


The Monster of the Mountains

by EdoEclipse



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Gajeel has a really funny caveman inner voice, Gajeel is a total creep, Gajeel is sort of like a weredragon, Gajevy - Freeform, Gruvia - Freeform, He knows her sizes, I am sorry for the hint of rape, I had issues as a young teen, I wrote this when I was like 15, Jet and Droy are like super evil, Levy has a really dark past, Levy is a bit air headed sometimes, Levy is just the coolest adventuring person ever, Love, Manga & Anime, Nalu - Freeform, Pantherlily is adorable as always, Romance, Ship babies, Short people rule, There is a hint of rape, This is like a cheesy fantasy novel gone wrong, fairy tail - Freeform, jerza - Freeform, lots of blood stuff, ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 14:10:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13548984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdoEclipse/pseuds/EdoEclipse
Summary: According to the locals, there lives a hideous and dangerous beast up in the deepest cave of the stone mountains. Levy McGarden, a new resident of the small village, refuses to believe them. To prove herself right and them wrong, she ventures off to the mountains, but what awaits her is beyond what she could possibly imagine.





	1. Chapter 1

-Levy-

"Now remember children. Never go near the Stone Mountains for any reason," a village elder warned a small group of children, the oldest being no more than seven years old.

Levy McGarden, who had moved to this secluded yet peaceful village a mere two weeks ago, rolled her eyes at the older woman. It seems that she would yet again hear another story about the "Monster of the Mountains". However, the short, seventeen-year-old bookworm believed in none of that stuff. It was simply a scary story that was passed down from generation to generation. It's as simple as that.

"Why can't we?" one of the younger children asked.

The old woman chuckled and began her story, a story now engraved into Levy's mind. "Long ago, when my ancestors hunted on this land, an Iron Dragon known as Metalicana stalked this landscape. He was seen as a protector to humans, a dragon who saw us as allies and friends. But one night, a beautiful young woman by the name of Diana Mooncross became lost in the wilderness, nearly eaten by the local wolves. Metalicana saved the young woman and brought her back into his cave dwelling. Entranced by the woman's beauty, he transformed into a humanoid version of himself, a tall and cold creature with iron scales for skin. The woman, feeling as though this were the payment she must give him for saving her, allowed the humanoid dragon one night with Diana. However, a child was created from that single night, a child that would become the Monster of The Mountains. The child was born unwanted by anyone, with the exception of his father. He was raised a dragon hatchling. One day, several years after the birth of this monster, Metalicana suddenly disappeared forever, leaving the child on his own. Rumors have it that due to the human blood coursing through his veins, the monster offspring is able to possess three forms: dragon, dragon humanoid, and human. But I wouldn't know if these are true or not. Beware of this beast, for his overwhelming grief has transformed him into a ruthless killer. Anyone who had dared to enter his domain never returned, so never leave the safety of the village, young ones."

Levy rolled her eyes at the group. There was absolutely no way that something like that could have happened. She knew that the cave was most likely empty or home to the hibernating animals during the winter. Surely a dragon/human hybrid did not dwell in the shiny, silver-colored mountains. This was simply a story that scared the children into staying within the village boundaries, nothing more. And yet something inside of Levy told her that the elder woman was speaking the truth. She nearly cursed at her own mind for betraying her.

'Why would I want to believe in such a childish story? Why do I have this strange feeling?' she wondered to herself.

"Levy!"

The bluenette turned around to see a tall, busty and pregnant blond waddling over towards her. Levy covered her mouth as to not giggle to the soon-to-be first-time mother.

During the first week that Levy had moved to the village of Magnolia, she easily became friends with the Captain of The Guard's wife, Lucy Dragneel, due to their shared love of books. From Lucy, she met Gray, Magnolia's artist(he mainly worked on ice sculptures), and Juvia, the somewhat insane wife of Gray. What shocked her was the fact that they both already had six children together, and they were only nineteen, having been married for two and a half years now. It did settle Levy'a mind, however, when she was told by Lucy that they simply had two sets of triplets.

Levy was even somewhat friends with the village leader's fiancee, Erza Scarlet. It was her who convinced Leader Jellal Fernandes to allow Levy to move here after all. The book lover was excited to attend their wedding next summer.

"Hey, Lucy! Should you really be wandering around in your condition?" Levy mildly interrogated her.

The very-rounded young woman scoffed and ignored her friend'a comment. "I was actually wondering about something."

"Really? What is it?"

"You've been kinda...distracted this past couple of days. I was wondering if there was something bothering you?" Lucy gave her newest friend, a girl she now considered a best friend, a look of worry and concern.

Levy smiled and her worried friend. "Oh, don't worry about me Lu. I've just been thinking lately."

"About what?" she asked curiously.

The shorter girl somewhat pointed to the old woman that was surrounded by the small group of children. "That same darn story that every elder seems to be obsessed with."

"Oh! It's quite interesting, don't you think? Well, it must be if you're thinking about it this much."

"Luce...do you believe in that story?" Levy asked her friend quietly.

Lucy nodded instantly. "Of course I do! Everyone who's lived in Magnolia all their life knows that it's true."

The small blunette suddenly became confused. "I thought that you moved here three years ago?"

Lucy giggled. "I did, but I feel as if I've been here my entire life. It just feels right to call this my official home I guess."

"I'm glad to hear that, but I'm afraid that I will have to disagree with you on that story. There's no way that it's real. A dragon seducing a young and beautiful woman, which ends up getting her pregnant with a half human and half dragon baby? That would never happen!"

"Just because you've never seen it, doesn't mean that it's a made-up story," Lucy reminded her short little friend.

"I know that. But this story seems too far-fetched," she grumbled out.

"I wish that I could prove it to you, but traveling to the Stone Mountains Cave is a straight-up death sentence." Lucy shivered at the thought of coming face-to-face with the monster.

"Wait a minute...LUCY THAT'S IT!" Levy screeched out, jumping into the air in pure excitement.

Lucy grew pale. "Um...what do you mean?"

"If I travel to the cave and take a picture of the obviously empty place, I can prove it to all of you(and her inner mind that's currently deceiving her)that the monster doesn't exist!"

"Levy! Don't do that! That sounds like a very bad idea!" Lucy protested, but it seemed like her friend was now determined to do this.

"I'll be fine, trust me! I'll be back in a weeks time without a single scratch on me!"

Suddenly, Levy was pulled into a strong hug, Lucy's protruding belly keeping them a small distance apart. "Levy. You're my best friend, and I don't want to lose my only bookworm friend!"

Levy laughed off her pregnant friend's worries. "I will be just fine Luce. Don't worry about me."

She pulled apart and waved to her goodbye, turning from her and making her way to her small house.

Levy's house was quite cute, painted an orange color. Orange is her favorite color, so for Magnolia to have this house for sale when she came was truly amazing! The blunette had flowers planted around her house, giving it a somewhat enchanted forest feel to it.

When she walked into her house, she nearly tripped over a small stack of books that she had forgotten about. Levy easily ran out of room on her bookshelves for her countless number of books, so now her tables and even floor would have to house her books until she could afford more bookshelves, but being the town's librarian didn't pay all that much.

The bookworm quickly ran into her room, pulling out her orange backpack from underneath the bed. Quickly packing a weeks worth of clothing, basic medical supplies, and several of her favorite books, Levy realized that she had no room for her camera.

'Oh well. I'll just have to wear it around my neck with its strap' she thought to herself.

Slinging the rather large and heavy backpack on my shoulder, she trotted out of her room and out of her house, ready to go on her exciting adventure.

When Levy made it to the village gates, she saw Lucy, Juvia, and even Erza standing there with sad looks in their eyes.

"Juvia does not want little Levy to go to the mountains. Juvia is scared that Levy will get hurt and die," the pale blunette choked out.

The short girl pouted slightly and gave each of them a quick hug. "Guys. I promise you all that I will return in less than a week, a week and a few days at the most. There is absolutely nothing to worry about."

"If this is what you want to do, Levy, then none of us will stop you. Be safe, and fight well if you must," Erza said sharply, handing Levy a very shiny and sharp iron dagger.

She took it and it's holder, slipping it into the side pocket of her pack. "Thank you, Erza. Goodbye guys!"

She waved to them all once more before passing through the gate, beginning her seemingly easy journey.

After all, there was nothing to worry about. The story was just a myth, and nothing more. Levy McGarden was going to prove herself right and everyone else wrong....or so she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

-Levy-

Around three hours into Levy's journey, the seemingly innocent light gray clouds had gotten darker. Thunder rolled in, sending a brief shiver of fear throughout the girl's body. She wasn't exactly scared of thunderstorms, but being caught out in the open with lightning didn't sound very enjoyable.

She only had another hour walk before she would reach the base of the mountain, and despite already exhausted, Levy knew that she needed to go on ahead and climb the mountain before nightfall. Since she was so confident that the cave held nothing more than a few mere mice and spiderwebs, she could easily shelter from the rain there.

"I hope the rain is on my side today, " the blunette thought aloud, walking toward the edge of the forest in case she needed a quick shelter from the soon-to-come rain.

She sighed as she thought back to the conversations that she had before embarking on this journey. Everyone in that darn village was so fixated on the story about the dragon hybrid. Why would anyone believe in such a tall tale? They had no proof what-so-ever that this legend was true. But perhaps it is a tradition or custom in the village to believe in the story.

Sudden guilt spiraled throughout little Levy.

'Would I ruin one of the oldest traditions of Magnolia?'

She suddenly shook her head in defiance towards herself.

'Don't be silly, Levy. They won't be bothered if we prove their story a fib. In fact, they may even consider you somewhat of a hero after this trip!'

With that new thought in mind, Levy smiled and giggled to herself, skipping along the edge of the forest.

"This looks like a good spot to take a lunch break, " she informed herself, sliding her heavy pack off of her shoulders.

Levy rolled her shoulders and stretched for a moment, relieved of the new light-weight feeling. She definitely needed a break from carrying such a heavy pack around for three and a half hours.

'Well...it is kind of my fault for bringing so many books along with me.'

Kneeling down, she grabbed a small dagger from the side of her pack. She wasn't one to kill innocent animals, but she knew good and well that this forest also contained rather menacing creatures such as bears or wolves.

Wrapping the leather holder for the dagger around her right leg, she quickly slipped the dagger in its holder before treading off into the depths of the forest. She was hoping to find a berry bush nearby, as berries were her favorite traveling treat.

'Hmm...perhaps I'll need to walk further into the forest.'

Not paying attention as to where she was going, she walked further in, ignoring the sudden silence that had fallen onto the wooded area. The birds had stopped chirping, the squirrels and chipmunks stopped chattering in search of acorns and other various nuts, and the crickets and frogs instantly ceased their mating songs. However, Levy and her now growling stomach were too focused on finding berries to notice any unusual changes around her.

'Ahah! I found them!'

Before the kind and intelligent bookworm was a medium-sized bush full of edible red berries. Smiling brightly, Levy instantly began to strip the bush of its edible fruit. Every now and then, when she had a nice pile in her hand, she would discard it into her mouth, humming in satisfaction at the berries' taste.

'These taste so wonderful! I wonder what kind of berries they are? I can tell that they are edible from the texture and color, but I can't quite figure out its species.;

She ignored her thoughts for awhile as she devoured nearly every berry from the bush. Her lips were stained red, as well as the corner of her lips. Levy even had a small red stain on top of her nose, though she knew nothing about it.

Suddenly, a large twig was heard snapping in half, causing Levy to instantly perk her head up. She scanned her surroundings, not seeing anything at first. She assumed it was more than likely a rabbit or squirrel. Chuckling to herself, she wiped her mouth clean with her sleeve and stood up from her kneeling position. But before she could begin to make her way back, another twig snapped. This time, however, the sound was much closer. A small fear began to form in the pit of Levy's stuffed belly. Then, a low growl was heard, and instantly Levy knew what animal this was.

'A bear! Oh, what am I going to do?!'

Backing away slowly, Levy suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs as a large, brown bear charged out of the dense forest and towards her. It managed to swipe at the side of her face before she rolled under the bear and ran for her life.

'Crap! I don't even know where I'm at! Good going, Levy! You really screwed up this time!'

The short and petite girl simply ran in one direction, hoping that she was going in the right direction. She could hear the bear's paws slam against the ground with each gallop, and she could almost feel the hot breath of the deadly animal being breathed down her neck.

'This isn't how I wanted to die! I wanted to die old, with a husband, children, and grandchildren! Now I'll die without my first kiss or even boyfriend for that matter!'

But then, when all hope seemed lost for poor Levy, another growl emerged from within the dense forest. This time, the growl sounded deadlier, more powerful, and even more dangerous. And yet..there was something else coating into my growl.

It sounded almost...

'Human...'

Levy refused to turn around. The last thing she wanted to see before she died was a wide gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. She would rather stare at the beauty of the forest as the bear closed in on her.

Suddenly, the most agonizing sound was heard. It sounded a mix between a gurgling sound and a loud whimper. The sound of galloping paws stopped, and so did Levy. She turned around, gasping at the sight before her.

The bear was dead. Dead and badly mauled for that matter. It had a deep gash wound that started at its shoulder blades, going all the way down to the animal's abdomen. Large amounts of blood gushed out of the horrific wound, creating a pool of blood around the deceased mammal.

'What could have done that?!'

She was very tempted to go back and look around in hopes of catching the creature that did this, but she knew that that would be a very foolish idea.

'You will end up like the bear, Levy. You know better.'

Sighing, the girl kept walking ahead. She still had no clue as to where she was going, and she soon became completely lost.

'I'm going to die out here at this rate!'

But then, Levy saw something that intrigued her. In front of her, on the surface of the tall woodland tree, was a single claw mark. What fascinated her the most was how clean the mark was. It wasn't like the rugged marks a bear would make when he would sharpen his claws. No, it was as if someone had carefully drawn a line onto the bark with a sharp knife.

'Perhaps this belongs to a hunter! Maybe he or she can help me...'

Levy decided that she would look around for more clues. She spotted another clean claw mark not long after that. She spotted another and another! Soon, she realized with great joy that this was a path made by someone, so she quickly followed it.

'Yes! The life of Levy McGarden has been spared!'

Quickly following the path, she spotted a clearing soon after. Rushing through the forest, she smiled and relaxed once she broke through the clearing, but her sense of peace was soon broken. Her face paled instantly when she realized where she was.

'This...this is where I left my pack! But I didn't leave those...so who...?'

More frightened now than ever, Levy quickly grabbed her pack, slung it over her shoulders, and ran away quickly without looking back.

~~~

She was already somewhat of a good distance away when a tall and winged creature emerged from the forest, his smirk revealing a set of ferocious fangs. He watched in amusement as Levy ran away before taking to the skies and flying back to his home.

~~~

The rain began to pour down heavily as Levy finally reached the base of the mountains. She was relieved to see that the cave was quite easy to get to, as the mountain wasn't very steep there at all. Quickly climbing up, she easily made it into the cave.

"Hello? " she called out, but she was met by utter silence.

A smirk slowly formed on her face.

'See Luce? I'm going to be home tomorrow screaming at the top of my lungs "I told you s-'

A sudden growl rumbled the cave, it's sound echoing off of the walls. Levy gasped at that sound, as she recalled hearing it just a half hour ago. It was the same creature that had killed the bear.

Turning around, Levy began to run, but two bulky, silver-scaled arms with clawed fingernails wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her against a hard and toned body. She knew that this...this creature wasn't human, or fully human anyway.

"And where do you think you're going?" a low, gruff voice asked her.

Levy whimpered, struggling against the creatures hold. "Please! Please, I'm sorry for trespassing! I'll leave and never return, I promise!"

The reptile-like creature chuckled softly before nuzzling his head into the crook of Levy's neck. Surprisingly, she didn't feel revolted or disgusting with his embrace.

"Why would I let you go back to that revolting, despicable village and allow you to run your mouth about my existence. True they believe I exist, but they have no solid proof yet, and they never will. No...I will keep you here with me, for the rest of your pathetic mortal life."

Tears streamed down Levy's face, her body shaking in fear.

'You are such an idiot. Levy McGarden, you are a total IDIOT!'


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hello! Just to clear up some confusion with the symbols that will be used throughout this fic. (I wrote this when I was 15 or 16, but I still like it.) When Gajeel or Levy l is speaking using 'She's weird.', it means that they are either thinking to themselves, or Gajeel is speaking to his inner dragon. When you see: ~Mate must be protected, this is his dragon speaking. On Wattpad, I used bold for the words and stuff, but... eh. Hope you enjoy the story!

-Gajeel-

'My father was an idiot.'

Gajeel Redfox, a centuries-old dragon hybrid, stared off into the night from the open-mouthed area of his cave. He glared at how peaceful the night seemed, and he was even jealous of such peace. He would never have that peace and comfort that so many lucky humans and creatures alike possessed.

'I will forever be alone.'

He never counted his ageless and winged cat, a gift that his father left him, as a true companion. Sure, Pantherlily was indeed a special cat. He could talk and make casual conversations with the half human/half dragon. He was Gajeel's best friend, his only friend at that.

'But it still isn't enough. I need...'

A mate. In all honesty, that is what he desired, what he needed. A dragon, even if he was only half dragon, needed the companionship of a significant other. It wasn't about the intimate moments, oh no. It was simply for the pure companionship. A friendship. Someone that he trusted and loved dearly enough to produce his offspring. It was in a dragon's blood to see to it that his genes be passed on and last. A dragon who's lineage died off was a dragon who failed at everything. Heck, the dragon shouldn't even deserve to live at that rate.

'This world doesn't need any more of my kind.'

Gajeel, in a way, was glad that he had no chance at finding a potential mate, be it human or dragon. Neither species would want him, for he would taint their own pure bloodline. He knew for darn sure that he was the only hybrid in existence. Heck, he was probably the only creature alive that contained even a drop of dragon blood. Not a sound or sight of a dragon has reached his senses in ages.

'I still have time, anyways...'

Despite being over two hundred years old, he was barely even nineteen by human standards. He was still an adolescent, a child even. But with his aging almost complete, his dragon instincts to find that special female will soon kick into full gear. He didn't want that. He knew that if he ever stumbled upon the perfect girl, she would never, never, leave his sights.

"Thinking again? You know that hurts what little brain you have." a familiar voice teased as he appeared from within the shadows of the cave.

"Would you shut it? I ain't in the mood to deal with yer teasin' tonight," the silver-scaled, human-looking creature replied softly, a deadlier tone than needed.

"I'm not out to tease you, not tonight anyway. What's up?" The black and white feline sat down next to his life-long friend, who was clearly struggling with his inner thoughts.

The young male(by his kind's standards anyway)sighed and glanced back towards the stars. "It's startin'. That's 'what's up'."

"You mean the whole mate thing? Relax, Gajeel. There isn't a female humanoid around for miles. Why I bet--"

"You're wrong, cat. There's somethin' comin'. I feel a change in the breeze tonight, but I ain't sure if it's a good change or not," Gajeel admitted, his wings folded securely on his back.

"What kind of change?" Pantherlily asked.

"Somethin' big. It's a big change all right, but I ain't so sure what it is."

The little panther chuckled and stood up. "Why don't you go to sleep. I think your mind is playing tricks on you. Maybe it's this isolation. You should mingle with the local village, get to know them and all."

The hybrid snorted. "And get my butt shot at? No way. Besides, I'm a monster. That's what everyone sees me as, so why try and change their minds?"

The cat merely shrugged. "I'm sure not everyone will see you as a monster." He yawned and stretched his tiny arms. "Well, I think I'll go to sleep. You should too soon. It is getting rather late."

Gajeel heard his cat slide the stone door open that led into their "house" part of the cave. It was the sound of that stone door that reminded him that he wasn't entirely animal. He still needed the living style of a human as well. He needed chairs, tables, beds, and even books. He would never admit it, but he had a secret liking towards books. It wasn't anything major like a bookworm, but they did help him escape from his misery of a reality every now and then.

His eyes slightly drooping, Gajeel finally allowed his mind to admit that he was rather tired. He stood from his stone perch, walking deeper into his cave. The stone door was left cracked by Pantherlilly, as his small size forbidded him the ability to shut it back. With ease, Gajeel slipped inside his cave house, sliding the stone door closed.

His cat was already in a deep sleep, curled up in his small bed. Smiling slightly at the sight, Gajeel stomped over to his large bed, kicking off his iron-studded boots.

Removing his coat and green shirt, he crawled into his bed and curled into his covers, sighing in content at the warmth.

It was early spring, and with that came such drastic weather. The days would be sweaty and hot, yet the nights would bring ice cold temperatures. It also rained often, but nothing more than rain. But Gajeel knew that the summer would bring thunderstorms and possibly even hurricanes. Sometimes, having a cave for a home was a real benefit.

After a few moments, the young dragon hybrid slowly managed to fall asleep.

~~~

~I sense her. Mate is headed this way.

Gajeel woke up from his sleep, not realizing that he slept way past his early morning rise. It was already nearing noon, yet the young male could care less.

~I sense rain. Mate will get sick.

Slapping the side of his head, Gajeel groaned at the sound of his inner beast. It's been years since the monster was this active, the last being when the worst storm in over a century rolled through.

And now this idiot was talking about "their mate".

~I sense her. Mate is in the forest.

Growling, Gajeel shook his head.

'And what do you want me to do about it?! Let the girl go about her life. The last thing she needs is me.'

~Go to mate. Go to mate. Go now.

Nearly snarling aloud, Gajeel walked over towards his stone door, rolling it back. He exited his cave house, leaving a crack for his cat. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before his inner dragon took over his movements, forcing him to go to the girl that his beast wants as a mate.

His father wasn't around when Gajeel was old enough to finally understand the details of a mate. He only knew the basics, and there was plenty more that he would have liked to know about for this moment.

Did the beast choose a mate for his humanoid at birth?

Did the beast claim the first female he scents after fully maturing?

Gajeel snorted at that thought. If that were true, then there would be many of his kind around. His father had an interesting choice. He always wondered why the beast of his father was so...interested in humans. He knew that his father was more so seen around humans, and his father also tended to take his humanoid dragon form more often as well. It sparkled anger with the other dragons, despite the peace that had been made between dragons and humans.

'My father was an idiot...and always will be.'

He noticed that the sun was nearly at the peak of the light blue, clear sky. Lunchtime was around, but he wasn't very hungry. There was too much on his mind now, far too much.

When suddenly...

~Mate is in danger! Go to mate now!

A sudden burst of adrenaline filled Gajeel's body, a level of energy that he never knew to possess. It seemed as if he had no control over his body at all. He couldn't control himself as his wings folded out or when he jumped off the ledge, soaring towards the forest.

Even from the skies, he could smell the panic and fear of a human female. He could also smell something else that didn't settle well with him at all.

'Blood...she's injured.'

A scream echoed throughout the forest, and it willed the dragon to fly even faster. From above, he could see a blue-headed girl running for her life, behind her a larger-than-average brown bear chasing her. Soaring down, he pounced on the bear, dragging his clawed feet through the bears hide. Blood spurted everywhere, even on him. But he didn't care. His instincts were in full gear now.

~Save mate. Kill bear. Save mate. Kill bear.

Gajeel used his razor-sharp claws to grab the bear and slice at his neck, successfully ending the bear's life.

Then, he noticed the girl's pause instep. Before she could see him, he made a quick dash for the dense forest bushes and such, keeping himself well hidden.

~Follow mate. Keep mate safe.

Gajeel really had no choice but to simply listen to his inner beast. Although he did remain in the shadows of the forest, he followed the young woman around. But after a while, he noticed with great annoyance that this blunette was entirely lost. They've circled the same area twice for crying out loud!

'This shrimp has a terrible sense of direction.'

He nearly snorted at his own thought, instantly liking the nickname he created for his little mate. Lifting his head up into the air, he took in deep whiffs of the surrounding area, hoping that this girl had a tent or a possession around that would give him clues as to where she started her walk.

Catching the scent of a pack that was coated in the girl's scent, he smirked slightly and followed it, leaving claw-marks on a tree every now and then to keep a clear path. He knew the shrimp would find his markings sooner-or-later.

For now, he would bid his time by snooping around in her belongings. His beast claimed that she was their mate, that little, troublesome, annoying,...cute girl.

'Oh, snap out of it you sissy!'

The only thing he found in her pack was a camera and a ton of books. He wasn't surprised that a girl like her would easily get lost in the forest. It seemed that the only experience she had with survival was by reading a story about it.

~Mate has same hobbies as you.

She did have the same hobbies as Gajeel, but he would never admit that. He liked books, but he didn't love them.

The sudden snap of a twig broke Gajeel away from his thoughts, alerting him that this very girl was closing in. Quickly, he flew into the nearby shadows of the forest. He barely was able to escape from being seen by the blue-headed girl, as she appeared right after.

He noticed that a sudden fear and realization took over her face as she spotted her pack. A large smirk appeared on the hybrid's face as he watched her grab her pack and quickly run away.

After he was sure she wouldn't look back, he emerged from the shadows, staring at the girl as she ran away with the still large smirk on his face, his fangs on full display.

~Mate is headed towards the cave.

'I know'

Was that where she was headed? Was she really attempting to discover 'the Monster of the Mountains'?

~Go back to cave. Go now!

He rolled his eyes at his beast's demanding ways. It's as if the monster within him thought he would go somewhere other than the cave. Where else did he have to go?

Taking off up into the skies above, Gajeel quickly hovered past the girl and onwards to his cave. If his thoughts were right, he would only have to simply sit and wait for the girl to literally come to him.

~~~

Night was setting upon the land, rain pouring down from the heavens. It seemed a terrible idea to venture out into this downpour, but Gajeel knew of one small, little woman who was enduring this weather. It didn't settle with him.

~Mate will get sick. Find mate and bring her here. Get mate warm!

'Shut up! She's gonna get here soon anyways'

The hybrid dragon was sitting in the corner of the cave, knowing that he wouldn't be seen by her from the entrance area. He didn't want a mate, an innocent human girl who was about to have her life ruined forever. However, he also knew that he wouldn't be able to stop his inner beast from taking over his body, and he hated being out of control. All he had to do now was wait a--

"Hello?" a small voice called out.

Gajeel snapped his head towards the entrance of the cave. Standing there, dripping wet from the heavy downpour, was none other than his very own mate.

He watched as she smirked in some form of victory, the smirk making her all the more appealing. He nearly laughed as he realized that she thought there was no one in here, so he decided to play a little game with the girl.

He let out a low growl, having to hold back on his laughter when he saw the sudden shock and fear swarm over the short woman. Her face paled, and for an instant, it reminded him how easily she could catch a cold right now. Luckily, he was able to snap out of his thoughts quickly.

He noticed that the girl had turned around and was beginning to make a run for it.

'Stupid Shrimp. Does she actually think that she can outrun me?'

Quickly, he leaped forward and wrapped his arms around her, now realizing just how short and small she really is. She didn't even come up to his shoulders.

Leaning down, Gajeel leaned towards her right ear. "And where do you think you're going?"

The blunette began to thrash around in his hold, whimpering in pure fright. It aroused a guilt feeling from within him, but he simply ignored it.

"Please! Please, I'm sorry for trespassing! I'll leave and never return, I promise!" she pleaded with him.

The guilt feeling didn't go away. In fact, it came back at full force. It was so strong that the beast within him took over, the need to calm his mate down now at an ultimate high.

The hybrid, now solely on instinct alone, nuzzled his mate in a very comforting way. Surprisingly, his mate did indeed calm down, relaxing slightly in his hold. It was enough to satisfy the beast and allow Gajeel to take over once more. He replayed what she said to him in his mind, disliking the idea of her leaving him.

"Why would I let you go back to that revolting, despicable village and allow you to run your mouth about my existence? True they believe I exist, but they have no solid proof yet, and they never will. No...I will keep you here with me, for the rest of your pathetic mortal life," he purred to her.

Her body began to tremble, but Gajeel didn't know if it was from his purring or the fact that he declared he would keep her here forever.

Gajeel had a mate now, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.


	4. Chapter 4

-Levy-

"Oi! What's going on out there, Gajeel?!" a voice called out suddenly.

The monster quickly pushed Levy away, yet he kept a firm grip on her wrist. The bookworm supposed he was rather afraid that she would attempt to run away again, but she knew better this time. She knew that this creature possessed a great speed, allowing him to easily capture her once more if she were to even think about it.

"Shut it Cat. Actually, on second thought. Come here." The dragon hybrid tightened his grip on her as a small, black and white panther appeared from the darkness of the cave.

Levy noticed instantly that the panther walked upright, and he even wore a small pair of trousers. It was easy to see that this cat was indeed an exceed. But Levy was worried about it.

'What on earth is that little cutie doing with this deadly beast?!'

"Get away from here! Go and run away before he eats you too!" Levy yelled in fright towards the small and now confused panther.

Suddenly, both the panther and the monster busted out laughing, which angered and confused the short woman.

"Y'you....you actually think....you think that idiot....is going to eat me?" the exceed laughed out, rolling around on the ground.

Levy blushed madly. "Well, yea! Isn't he a man-eating dragon hybrid?"

The grip on her wrist tightened even more, so she looked up to see the silver-scaled dragon glaring at her.

'Wait...wasn't he just laughing?!'

"Is that what you and your stupid village think of me?" he asked.

Levy sighed, still irritated with her current situation. "Well, that's what they think. I never believed them. Heck, I thought you were a made-up story! Why couldn't you be fake?! I was going to prove that whole village wrong, and now you ruined it!"

"Look, Shrimp. I ain't gonna kill myself to make ya happy. I'll do somethin' else for ya if ya want, but I ain't gonna kill myself for ya," the human beast growled.

"What.did.you.just.call.me?" she asked through clenched teeth, ignoring everything else he said other than that annoying nickname.

He smirked at the petite blunette. "I called ya Shrimp. Got a problem with it?"

"Actually, yes, yes I--"

"Erm. I don't mean to interrupt, but who's the girl?" the cat suddenly asked.

The beast looked away from the girl and glanced down at the round-eared cat.

"Heck if I know." The hybrid man shrugged his shoulders.

Levy glared at the beast before glancing over at the cat with a smile. "I'm Levy McGarden!"

The cat smiled back. "Your name suits you. I'm Pantherlily, but you can call me Lily for short."

"Nice to meet you, Lily!" Levy chirped out.

Lily and Levy both glanced over at the dragon hybrid, who was grumbling various words under his breath.

"Aww! Is Gajeel mad that the pretty girl likes me better?" Lily teased the tall humanoid.

Levy couldn't help but giggle as this Gajeel person let her go to chase Pantherlily around the cave. As she watched them goof around, she glanced back towards the opening of the cave.

There was still a heavy downpour outside, which reminded her that she was soaking wet from said rain. However, she was wondering if she could easily and quickly escape while the monster was hopelessly distracted...by a cat.

She thought it possible, and with a confident smile on her face, she quietly snuck away from the noisy pair. She quickly and quietly tiptoed towards the entrance.

'I'm almost there....almost there...'

And just as she began to exit the cave, a sudden and loud noise erupted from within her.

"ACHOO!!" She sneezed loudly, freezing in her spot as she knew that her chances of escaping were now gone.

"What the--Oi?! Where's the Shrimp at?!"

Scared to see the monster's angry face, Levy covered her eyes and simply waited for Gajeel to grab her. Hearing the pounding footsteps coming towards her, the short woman braced for the worst.

However, she never felt any pain. Surprisingly, the dragon monster gently picked her up, holding her close to his chest. She noticed instantly that he was very warm, and despite her fear and irritation towards the hybrid, she found herself snuggling closer to his chest for the warmth that she craved.

"Shrimp. Look up at me."

Furrowing her brows at the nickname, her head shot up as she glared at the metal head. But she was suddenly shocked to see that he had somewhat of a concerned look on his face. She simply stared at him as he stared back at her.

"You're sick," he merely stated.

Raising a brow in confusion, Levy folded her arms up. "And how do you know that?"

He laughed slightly, and she quickly noticed that it was a very unique laugh. It sounded much like a 'gihi' sort of sound.

"I can scent your sickness, Shrimp," Gajeel smirked and continued to stare at the blue-headed girl. "Besides, your nose is runny. And your eyes are red and watery. And you're starting to sneeze."

Levy pouted. "I'm not sick."

And as if on cue, she sneezed loudly once more, causing Gajeel to wince at the loud noise.

"Sheesh Shrimp. Yer gonna make my ears fall off. Come on. Let's get you inside the house." Gajeel continued to walk with Levy in his arms.

"House?" Levy asked.

Suddenly, Lily appeared in front of her, but he was flying this time with a pair of white, feathered wings. "Gajeel has a human side you know. He needs human things too. It's a pretty cool house, built right into the cave too!"

Levy smiled and giggled when the flying cat flew over her and tickled her side. A low rumbling noise was then heard, which caused her to glance up at the being from which it was coming from.

She noticed how content Gajeel seemed to be, as a small smile covering his face.

'He looks almost...happy. Was I quick to judge this being? I mean, he doesn't seem cruel or deadly. Maybe a little rude, but nothing that's absolutely horrible!'

Suddenly, they came to a complete stop. Levy was suddenly curious as to why Gajeel and Lily stopped by this cave wall. She glanced over and noticed that a stone door was in front of them.

'Wow. When Lily said that Gajeel's house was built into the cave, he really wasn't kidding!'

Levy nearly blushed at how embarrassing her original thought of the cave house would look like. She had literally pictured in her mind, an actual house that was built inside the cave. She pictured it being made out of wood, having windows and even having a roof. She now felt so silly for thinking that.

"Alright Shrimp. Ya ready to see your new home?" Gajeel asked her.

'He acts as if I'm going to stay here forever. Pft, as if. I'll find a way to escape someday.'

She would find a way to escape this place. Perhaps she could run away the next time the dragon man went out to collect supplies or food. The clever woman had to simply act as if she would accept her fate.

"Sure!" Levy replied with fake enthusiasm.

Sighing softly, Gajeel slid the stone door open, the content look now replaced with a scowl.

'Drat. I'm such a terrible actress!'

When the cave house was revealed, Levy couldn't hold back her gasp as she looked around. She noticed that Lily walked straight towards a small room that, from what she could see through the room's open door, contained a tiny bed and dresser.

'Aww! How cute! Lily has his own little room!'

"Whatcha smilin' about Shrimp?"

Ignoring the idiot, Levy continued to look around. She noticed that he had a rather large living room, along with a large kitchen as well. She also noticed four wooden doors, not counting Lily's room, scattered about.

Curious, she wanted to know what each door led to. "Um...what are those rooms?"

A small 'gihi' was heard above her. "The door on the far right is my bedroom, the door next to Lily's room is the bathroom, the door in the kitchen is an extra bedroom, and the door by the dragon painting is the library."

'Did he just say what I think he just said...?'

"Did you say library?!" Levy asked with a very noticeable excitement in her voice.

She glanced up and saw Gajeel smiling slightly at her. "Yep! But you can go there later. You need to sleep off that cold of yers."

Sighing, Levy nodded. "Oh, all right."

With another 'gihi' from Gajeel, he carried her towards the kitchen and then towards the wooden door. Opening it with ease, he carried her inside and lit the oil lamp swiftly.

Levy became absolutely astonished with the room that she was in. The walls, which were the cave stone, were painted ruby red. She knew that the color was the exact same color as her kidnapper's eyes.

'Wait, why would I care?!'

Still, it was a very beautiful color, and it stood out from the other rooms, which had walls that were left as the stone's natural color.

The floor was also left as the cave stone, yet a bright blue rug in the shape of a circle covered most of the floor. The bookworm actually loved how the rug matched her hair color.

Gajeel sat Levy down, allowing her to walk around her new room. Levy didn't waste any time as she instantly rushed over towards the bed.

A beautiful quilt covered the bed, it's squares telling a story. She looked at each scene, easily realizing that it somewhat matched up with the story that the elder woman would tell to the children. And yet, there was something different about this version of the story. It was more...happy and...romantic even.

"My mom made that." She heard Gajeel say.

Glancing over towards him, she saw a sadness in his eyes, which made her become even more curious about this entire situation.

Here she was, discovered by the monster of the mountains, and yet she was perfectly fine and alive. Sure she was sick with a cold, but that was her own doing. If he had been like the monster that the elder told about so often, he would have ripped her apart by now and possibly even consumed the little blunette.

But he instead welcomed her(if you call being held hostage welcoming)into his home, giving her what she had now declared the most beautiful room that she had ever seen.

'It just doesn't add up! What's going on here?!'

"Your mother did a beautiful job," she found herself saying to him.

He shrugged. "Tch. She could have done anything in the world before it happened, and instead, she chose to make this blanket."

"What happened?" she asked.

"It's nothin' important. Get some sleep. I uh...hope ya like yer new room." And with that said, he closed her door and walked away.

Levy stood there, not knowing what to do at that moment. She knew she went too far by asking that question, but at the same time, she wondered why she even cared that she hurt his feelings. After all, he pretty much kidnapped her.

'Well, I did trespass on his...territory.'

She simply shook her head and sighed. She knew she'd need a good nights sleep to think more properly and to help rid herself of this annoying cold.

Slipping off her red flats, Levy crawled into the massive bed and blew out the light. Laying there, she stared up at the ceiling as tears rolled down her cheeks. With the silence now surrounding her, it gave her time to think.

She would never be able to see her friends again, Lucy, Juvia, Erza...Erza! She'd miss the wedding next summer at this rate! With Gajeel's reputation, Levy knew that everyone will assume that she is dead once a week or two passes. Simply thinking about how heartbroken her friends will be when they hear the news nearly caused Levy to let out a sob.

She wouldn't get to meet Lucy and Natsu's first baby. She wouldn't get to see how many kids Juvia and Gray ended up with. She wouldn't get to see Erza and Jellal with their future kids either.

After an hour or two of crying, Levy slowly managed to fall asleep.

'I have to find a way to get away from that...that idiot!'


	5. Chapter 5

-Levy-

"Oi! Shrimp, wake up!" a loud and annoying voice yelled out, causing Levy to suddenly sit up-right in her quilted bed.

A small 'gihi' was heard following her sudden fright. The little bookworm glared up at the culprit.

"It's not smart to wake up a teenager from her sleep," she mentioned to the tall, young man.

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well, it also ain't smart to sleep in wet clothes when yer sick."

Little Levy glanced downward, noticing with a blush that she was indeed still in her clothes from the night before. But it also wasn't really her fault. She didn't know where her pack was, or even if she did pack any extra clothes in the first place. Her books always came first after all. And Gajeel didn't even offer her anything to wear.

"You knew it would be bad for me to sleep in wet clothes, so why didn't you get me anything to wear?" Levy asked with a smug look.

Gajeel simply returned her smug look. "Ya didn't ask."

"Well, I shouldn't have to if you knew already that it was a bad idea. You need to observe better." She crossed her arms and smirked somewhat at the dragon hybrid.

He, meanwhile, was at a lost for words. It made Levy's smirk grow even wider, knowing that she had won this little battle. She even giggled when the scale-covered man began to stutter.

"Well I--no, well you!--Um...Hey! What's so funny Shrimp?!"

She suddenly glared at him. "Don't call me that! I'm not that short!"

"Oh, yea? How tall are you?" he asked, his fanged smirk ever present upon his face.

Levy blushed slightly. "I'm....I'm 4'11, but that's not too short."

She knew that she was only lying to make herself feel better. Her height made her life much more difficult. She had to constantly ask for help whenever she needed something from high shelves, and she could never look at someone without peering upwards at them, which always caused neck cramps for her.

"Gihihihihi. That's not short? Ya must be a really tall fairy then!" Gajeel laughed out.

She merely ignored him and huffed. "Anyways, why did you wake me up?"

The dragon man stopped laughing once he heard her question. Levy also noticed that Gajeel was holding something behind his back.

'Wonder what he has...'

Her thoughts were answered when he revealed a short, orange dress that had cute designs all over it. It had a slight ruffle at the bottom, which made it even cuter. The best part about the dress, in her opinion, was the fact that it was sleeveless. She had always preferred shirts and dresses that were sleeveless for some odd reason. 

"Is that for me?" she asked out of impulse, immediately wishing that she could take back what she said.

Gajeel laughed his unique laugh. "It's not for me Shrimp. I don't pull off dresses well."

Levy couldn't help but laugh at that, imagining the dragon man in the tiny orange dress. "I guess you're right about that."

"Oh, and um...I got these for ya while you were asleep. And yes, I did steal em. I ain't gonna be seen by no human," the hybrid mumbled out, a light blush coating his cheeks.

He threw a bag on the bed next to her dress. Levy, now very curious, peeked inside the bag to see what was in there.

She found three new pair of flats, all various shades of red. She also found many different dresses. The only pants, shorts, or shirts that she could find were all sleeping clothes. And, much to her embarrassment, she also found many different bras and panties. What made it even more creepy was that everything was her correct size.

"Um....how do you know my sizes?" she asked, a deep blush coating her cheeks.

He also blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, now very nervous. "I erm......guessed?"

She rolled her eyes at him, but she also decided not to reply to that. It seemed that he was already incredibly embarrassed about the entire situation.

'I really don't want to know how he found out at this rate anyway...'

If she'd found out that he took measurements or something like that while she was asleep, being around him would become even more awkward and uncomfortable.

"Well, um...thanks for the clothes. Now, if you don't mind..." The blunette picked up the dress and motioned for Gajeel to leave the room so that she could get dressed.

Still blushing, Gajeel mumbled a quick 'sorry' before leaving her room, closing the door behind him.

Sighing, Levy quickly stripped out of her now hardened clothes. The rain probably ruined them anyways. She quickly slipped on her undergarments, blushing as they reminded her that Gajeel had gotten them for her.

'More like stolen, but I'll let this slide for now...'

Next, she slipped the simple orange dress over her head, adjusting it correctly. It was then that she realized she couldn't reach the zipper in the back. Groaning in annoyance, she went ahead and put on a pair of crimson red flats, instantly falling in love with the color. She also quickly readjusted her orange headband.

'I guess I could get Gajeel to zip the dress up for me.'

Just the idea of Gajeel zipping up her dress caused a deep blush to reappear upon Levy's face. But she knew that she couldn't do it herself. She had no choice after all.

Sighing once more, the little bookworm exited her room, looking around. She instantly found Gajeel just a little ways away from her. He was cooking what looked like breakfast, and the smell was so heavenly. It caused her stomach to growl, much to her utter embarrassment.

Shyly, she slowly walked towards the hybrid. "G'Gajeel?"

The dragon hybrid glanced up from the eggs that he was cooking, his eyes widening immediately as he looked her up and down. It caused Levy to blush again.

"You look nice, Shrimp."

She slightly glared at him. "Don't call me that! A'and...I um...I need your help with something."

Smirking slightly, Gajeel glanced back down at the eggs to move them around in the pan so that they wouldn't burn. "Sure Shortie. What is it?"

"Don't call me that either! And I need help with the zipper. I..I can't reach it."

Turning the stove off once the eggs were done, Gajeel walked over towards Levy and turned her around. A slight squeak popped out of the short woman when he did this, and her blush became brighter.

"Darnit...can't zip it with my claws in the way," he mumbled.

A strange crackling sound was heard behind Levy, the sound of her dress being zipped up following that.

Levy then instantly turned around. "Thanks, Gaje--"

Her words died out as she glanced up at him. His skin was no longer made up of silver scales, as it was now human skin that was pretty tanned. His midnight black hair was still long and spiky, but it wasn't as jagged as before. He still had his many piercings, fangs, and red eyes. And yet, she noticed that his pupils were thicker. They weren't exactly round like humans, but they weren't completely slitting like his humanoid dragon form either. His pupils were in the middle between the two styles.

"Oi! Why are ya starin' at me like that?!" Gajeel suddenly asked, his usual scowl now back on his face.

He did ask a good question. Why was she staring at him so intensely?

'Because I'm fascinated with his eyes...'

That one thought was, unfortunately, very true. She was obsessed with his eye color for some reason. Perhaps it was the fact that red was one of her favorite colors?

'Most likely the reason...'

"Oi Shrimp! I'm takin' to ya!" Gajeel yelled right at her face.

The sudden ringing in her ears due to his loud voice brought her out of her thoughts.

She glared up at the now human man. "Don't yell at me like that!"

He just shook his head and huffed. Turning around, he stomped back towards the stove and moved the pan of eggs over to the cabinet. Grabbing two plates, he piled each one up with eggs and set a piece of toasted bread on each one as well. Carefully, he carried the two plates over to the small table that was located in a small area between the kitchen and living room.

Levy, her stomach rumbling again, followed Gajeel over towards the table. She unknowingly licked her lips at the meal before her. A laugh broke her from her almost food fantasy.

"Gihihihihi! You must be hungry, huh Shrimp. Well go on and eat! No ones stopping' ya." Gajeel pointed towards her food with a fork in his hand.

Blushing, Levy sat down and began to eat her food. She smiled brightly at the amazing taste. Who knew that the dense dragon hybrid was such a great cook!

"Like yer food Shrimp?"

She glanced up at Gajeel, who was also eating, nodding. "Yes, actually! You're a really good cook!"

He chuckled. "Thanks, Shortie."

Ignoring the multiple uses of her new and annoying nicknames, Levy noticed something that was mixed in with the eggs on Gajeel's plate. It was bits of something shiny and silver colored, like metal.

'Hmm...'

"Hey, Gajeel? What's that mixed in your eggs?" she asked softly, hoping that she didn't upset him for asking.

Wait..why on earth would I care if I hurt his feelings?!

He smirked slightly. "Iron. Ya know, the metal iron?"

She gave him a blank look. "I know what iron is. But why are you eating it? How are you eating it??"

"You ask a lot of questions, Shrimp."

"Well, you don't have to answer me if you don't want to."

Levy went back to eating, quickly finishing up her meal. Standing up, she picked her plate and carried it back to the kitchen, setting it down in the sink.

A tall figure brushed up against her back, setting his own plate in the sink. "I can do the dishes later. Still wanna know why I eat iron?"

Blushing madly at their close proximity, the short woman nodded. "S'sure."

Grabbing Levy's hand, Gajeel pulled her away from the sink and toward the living room. He pushed her down on the couch, himself sitting next to her.

"Well, I guess I can tell ya while I wait for Lily to get back." Gajeel shrugged his shoulders and smiled somewhat towards Levy.

"Basically, there used to be a lot of dragons around, different kinds too. There were fire dragons, water dragons, earth dragons, sky dragons, all kinds really," he started off.

Levy was quiet and listening curiously. She always loved hearing stories, even the use-to-be ridiculous one that the elder woman would tell back at the village. "What kind are you?"

He smirks at her. "Iron Dragon."

She nodded, and yet she was still curious. "But that doesn't explain why you eat iron."

"Dragons have special powers that go along with what kind they are. To keep their powers strong, they eat whatever element matches with them. So that's why I eat iron, but I can eat human food too since I'm half human," Gajeel explained to the curious bookworm.

"You mean...fire dragons ate fire for instance?" Levy asked.

The tall man nodded. "Yep. Fire dragons ate fire, water dragons ate...I guess....water, but I guess you get it."

She nodded towards him, letting him know that she understood.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the stone door.

"Gajeel! Levy! Someone let me in!" Pantherlily called out from the other side of the door.

The hybrid stood up and walked over to the door, sliding it open for his friend. The panther walked in and instantly sat on the couch next to Levy, snuggling up to her and purring.

Levy smiled and giggled, not hearing the low growl coming from Gajeel.

"What's up with the human form?" Lily asked Gajeel, now noticing the form that his idiot of a friend was currently in.

He simply shrugged. "I did something for Shrimp, but my claws got in the way, so I had to change into this form."

Lily tensed a little, glancing between Levy and Gajeel. "Okay...Anyways, the coast is clear. There's not a human in sight."

Levy was blushing madly at this point, not hearing what was going on.

"Hey Shrimp!!"

Gasping from being suddenly thrown out of her thoughts, Levy glared at Gajeel. "What?! And for the last time, don't call me Shrimp!"

He smiled at her, her protests already having no impact on him. "Wanna go on an adventure?"


	6. Chapter 6

-Gajeel-

"What do you mean? What kind of adventure?" Levy asked the now somewhat excited Gajeel.

He simply shrugged before changing back into his humanoid dragon form, a process that gave him such pain. It wasn't the fact that the actual process was supposed to give him any pain, as he was meant to transform regularly. But he hardly ever needed his human form, and he certainly never needed his full dragon form. So why would he go through that much pain just to zip up the little Shrimp's dress?

~Mate must be spoiled. Mate must be pampered and given all attention.

'Well aren't you a whipped idiot!'

Gajeel could have sworn that he saw Levy glance at him with a slight disappointment in her eyes, but he was most likely just seeing things. Glancing at Lily, he motioned him over.

"What is it?" the small cat asked his companion.

Gajeel bent down to get closer to Lily, making sure that the Shrimp didn't hear what he had to say next. "You sure the Shrimp ain't gonna get hurt if she comes with us?"

The mini panther smiled teasingly at Gajeel. "Oh? And why would you care if she did? If something happened to her, wouldn't that solve this whole situation? Hmm?"

"Don't talk about my mate like that!" Gajeel suddenly growled out, instantly covering his mouth once he said that.

Pantherlily snickered. "Oh, I get it now. It's not that you don't want her to leave, it's the fact that you can't let her leave. You need that cutie of a woman."

"Shut it, you stupid c--"

"Um, guys? When are we leaving?"

Both Gajeel and Pantherlily turned around to see little Levy standing behind them, her arms crossed and her foot tapping in annoyance.

"Oh, Levy! H'how long have you been there?" Lily asked his new friend.

Levy continued to glare at Gajeel, but she glanced down and smiled at the little cat. "Not long. I was just wondering if you both were ready to leave or not."

The dragon hybrid's shoulders relaxed out of relief. He was very happy that the bookworm didn't hear anything that was said between him and his bratty cat. The last thing that she needed to know was what she really was to him.

~Mate needs to know! Mate needs to be together with us!

He had decided long ago that having a beast living within him was a true curse. It was as if this monster cared only about three things: fighting, iron, and his mate.

Gajeel himself would rather sleep all day than fight for jewels, and iron wasn't the best food in the world. His mate was out of the question altogether. Sure he wanted a girl but just look at him. Who on earth would fall in love with such a screwed up creature?!

~Mate would love you! Mate would love us lots!

Gajeel snorted at his inner beast. The idea of Levy ever falling for him made his heart beat fast and his body turn warm. But he knew it would never happen. He was nothing but a monster. Maybe it was better this way. He would be guilt-ridden daily by watching his own hatchlings go through the same fate as he.

~Mate WILL have our sons and daughters. Mate WILL have many of our children.

'Yer nothin' but a pervert!'

But it was true. Gajeel needed children. It was apart of his instinct to carry on the Redfox lineage, but at the same time, he wasn't sure if that would be a very good idea. Levy wouldn't be very willing anyways. As long as his inner beast stayed out of the way, they both will be just fine.

"GAJEEL!"

Gajeel suddenly gasped in shock of the noise, his head snapping up towards Levy and Lily. Levy's eyebrows were scrunched, and she actually looked almost worried. Lily was obviously worried, as he walked toward Gajeel and sat on his shoulder.

"Are you alright? You were glaring at the wall, and I couldn't get your attention no matter what." Lily patted the top of Gajeel's head, a way of showing his concern for the hybrid.

He nodded, not really trusting his voice at the moment.

"Well, we need to visit the old man soon." his friend mentioned.

"Old man? I thought we were going on an adventure?" Levy pondered.

"We are," the dragon said, "but in order to start our adventure, we have to see Gramps first."

"Gramps?"

"I'll explain on the way there," Gajeel promised his little mate.

Smiling slightly towards her, he walked over to his stone door, sliding it open. He left the house, his friend and mate following behind him. Glancing towards the entrance, he spotted something.

"Oi! What's th--"

"My pack!" Levy cried out, rushing towards the orange backpack.

Quickly, she scooped up the pack and slung it over her shoulders. "I guess I can bring this with me."

The silver-scaled man snorted. "There ain't nothin' but books in there Shortie! It'll just slow ya down!"

Shrimp snapped her head towards him and gave him a rather mean glare. "Don't call me that! And how do you know that?!"

It was then that Gajeel realized he said too much.

'She's gonna find out I snooped around in her stuff! I ain't ready to die yet!'

~Mate can kill us if she wants to!

'Are you insane?!?!'

Gajeel knew that his inner beast would do anything for the Shrimp, but actually, allow her to actually kill him?!

"Come on Dragon Boy! Spit it out!"

"I just guessed, that's all! And don't call me that!" Gajeel bit out.

A smug look was planted upon little Levy's face. "If you're going to give me nicknames, then I shall give you nicknames as well."

"Oh, snap!" Lily said, causing Levy to bust out laughing.

"Hey! Who's side are you on?!" the hybrid screeched out at his companion.

Lily yelped and ran behind Levy, holding onto her right leg like a frightened little child. Gajeel rolled his eyes at his cat. He knew Lily was only playing around.

"Don't let the mean dragon eat me," Lily said with a fake fear coating his words.

The bookworm pouted and picked the small panther up, cradling him like a baby. It instantly caused the dragon hybrid to picture Levy holding another creature: their hatchling.

'Snap out of it!'

"Hehe! Don't worry. Mama Levy will protect you!" Levy cooed to the cat in her arms.

Gajeel couldn't help to laugh at her. "Mama Levy? Is that the best you could come up with?"

The short woman blushed at Gajeel's words. "What? It fit the scenario!"

Shaking his head, Gajeel walked over towards the opening of the cave. He knew that the best way to get over to Gramps's place would be to fly, but he wasn't too sure as to how Levy would react to that.

~Mate will be fine!

'Do you ever shut up?!'

~.....No.

'Gah!'

Ignoring his idiot of an inner beast, Gajeel motioned for the Shrimp to walk over to him. Hesitantly, Levy slowly walked over towards him and glanced up at him with a tilted head, obviously curious.

Without warning, the dragon hybrid scooped Levy up into his arms, holding her close.

"Um, Gajeel?! What are you doing?!" she asked, holding Lily tighter to her, afraid of him falling out of her hold.

"Gihi! We gotta fly, Shrimp, and I know you ain't gotta pair of wings like me and Lily!" he replied, suddenly leaping off of the edge.

"AHHH! GAJEEL YOU IDIOT!!" Levy screamed at the top of her lungs.

He simply rolled his eyes at her overdramatic ways before spreading his wings out, picking up current instantly. Right before they hit the ground, Gajeel's body soared back up into the sky, causing Levy to release a huge amount of air.

"Gihihihihi, ya okay Shrimp?"

"Don't call me that! And what do you think?! I thought you were gonna kill me!" she shrieked out.

"I wouldn't do that Shrimp," the hybrid said softly.

"W'what?" Levy became shocked at what Gajeel said.

"I said I wouldn't do that, okay? Sheesh! You need to listen better Shrimp," he grumbled out.

She glared at him. "Well, you need to be nicer to me."

"And why should I?!"

"Because I said to!"

~Be nice to mate!

'Not you too!'


	7. Chapter 7

-Levy-

For some odd, unknown reason, Levy loved being close to Gajeel. As he flew over the forests and fields, she couldn't help but imagine that she was in one of her fairy tale books. The bookworm could picture the tower up ahead where the dragon would lock her away forever. That is until her Prince Charming arrived to defeat the dragon and rescue her.

But something about that idea conflicted little Levy. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't imagine Gajeel as an evil dragon with the desire to capture princesses. For some odd reason, she kept picturing him as the prince instead, but why? Surely he would be horrible enough to do such a thing if they lived in older times.

'Maybe it was his food that I ate. I could never get mad at a guy with amazing cooking skills...'

"Shrimp, you alright? Yer real quiet right now."

Levy sighed and glanced down at a sleeping Pantherlily in her hold. "I'm just bored. That's all."

"Shrimp! Yer flying in the sky with a dragon and yer bored?!" he asked, giving her a weird look.

She simply giggled. "I've done just about everything by reading. I guess my imagination prevents me from being shocked by reality."

The hybrid didn't reply as he continued to fly across a large forest, the sounds of animals being heard below them. It reminded Levy about the bear that nearly killed her. She never did get to see the creature that saved her. The only thing that she knew about it was the growl that it had. Funny, how similar Gajeel's growl was to...

'Wait, did....was it.....Gajeel??'

"Um...Gajeel?"

"What is it, Shrimp?" he asked.

Levy growled under her breath. "Don't call me that! And I...I need to ask you something."

"Gihi, what is it?" he chuckled out.

"Um...when I was traveling to y'your home, I um...I got attacked. By a bear.." she explained softly.

Gajeel swooped down some once they hit another open field. "Yea? And ya apparently got away since ya here right now! What about it?"

She gulped. "Well, I wouldn't have escaped...alive, if it hadn't been for something. And...it...was it you?"

The hold that Gajeel had on the little woman tightened tremendously, causing Levy to become a little afraid.

"Drop the conversation Shrimp or else I drop you," the hybrid threatened.

Squeaking a little, Levy nodded and remained silent for the rest of their flight.

'It must have been him if he's so sensitive about it. But why won't he just admit it?!'

And why did she want Gajeel to admit to her that he saved her life? The important thing about the situation was that Levy remained alive. Right?

'Right. I'm alive, and that's all that matters.'

The trio flew on for another hour, finally reaching what appeared to be a large mansion.

Its windows were framed with both red and green colors, the roof made of red textures. The entirety of the mansion was composed of cream-colored bricks. It was an odd looking building, and Levy instantly became even more curious by the minute.

Gajeel dropped the little bookworm on the ground, causing her to fall flat on her face. Blushing, she shot right back up and glared at the dragon.

"Why did you do that?!" she asked with clear irritation in her voice.

He shrugged. "Dunno. We're here, aren't we?! So why should I carry you?!"

Shaking her head at him, she froze when she heard a pained groan. Glancing down, she saw Lily still flat on the ground.

'I forgot I was carrying him!'

Quickly picking the small panther up from off of the ground, Levy held Lily incredibly close to her.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot you sleeping in my hold. So so so sorry!" she cried out, squeezing him ever tighter.

"Levy....can't....breath!!..." he choked out, his voice straining.

Gasping, Levy loosened her grip, but not before the poor exceed passed out.

Gajeel suddenly snatched Lily away from the panicking Levy. "Tch, yer gonna kill my cat at this rate Shrimp!"

Once again, she glared at him, but now with watery eyes. "Don't...call me that, and it was your fault for dropping me like that!"

"Tch, whatever. Let's just go." He walked past and bookworm and towards the rather colorful mansion.

Levy, despite not wanting to be near the idiot, followed him up the steps and to the large double door set. She was about to knock first, but Gajeel beat her to it by rudely banging on the door.

"Oi! Gramps, ya home?!" he yelled out.

The little woman smacked Gajeel's shoulders, obviously annoyed with him. "Gajeel! Don't be so rude!"

"Stop complainin' Shrimp! The old geezer wouldn't hear yer girly knocks!" he yelled back at her.

"Girly?! More like human! Which you obviously aren't!"

"Of course I ain't human, I'm half dragon!"

"Well, you could act more like your human side!"

"I ain't gotta listen to you!"

"I think you should listen to me!"

"You both remind me of an old married couple. I didn't know you had a mate, Gajeel?" a new, older voice chuckled out.

Both Levy and Gajeel snapped their heads towards the direction of the voice, both frozen in place.

"Glad to see that I'm not the only one to think that," Lily chimed in, having just awoken from his knock out.

"What?! She ain't my mate!" Gajeel bit out, making sure that his hand was covering Lily's mouth before he said it.

The old man simply chuckled. "I won't argue with you today, Gajeel. Are you here for another quest to do?"

Levy, being very curious, glanced down at the tiny man. "Quest?"

The older man smiled! "My dear, please allow me to introduce myself. I am Makarov Dreyar, an old friend of Gajeel's father. And please refrain from asking my age, my dear. I...suppose that you could say that I am Gajeel's guardian."

"Is that why he calls you Gramps?" she asked.

Gajeel suddenly butted in. "I call him Gramps 'cas he's old an' crazy!"

"Gajeel! Don't be so rude!" Levy warned him as she turned her attention back to Makarov.

"I'm Levy McGarden!" she introduced herself.

He nods, smiling. "Pleased to meet you. Are you a friend of Gajeels? I thought I remember him saying something about never interacting with humans."

"The Shrimp invaded my home and saw me. I wasn't gonna let her tell the village about me," the hybrid grumbled out.

"Then why didn't you kill her like any other trespasser?" the old man asked.

Levy gasped at that statement, but she was too afraid to question it.

"I ain't gonna kill a Shrimp. I'll kill anyone else: human, fairy, whatever, but not a Shrimp."

For some reason, Gajeel's words brought a faint blush upon Levy's cheeks. But why would it?! He had just admitted to killing people before!

"Don't say such things in front of the lady," Makarov scolded Gajeel, causing the dragon slayer to grumble out unneeded comments.

"Just tell me what the quest is Old Man," Gajeel finally said.

"Such ignorance. Anyways, I received word from the...council, that a very rare and sacred book had been stolen from the kingdom's secret library. Despite the underground library's heavily guarded entrance, a clan of specially talented thieves, who go by the name of "Shadow Gear", had managed to sneak inside and steal the book unseen. I need you to find these thieves and get the book back. I do not care what you do to the fools who took it, but we need the book back unharmed and even unread," Makarov explained.

Levy tensed at the name "Shadow Gear". She knew that thievery clan well, very well actually. She was once apart of the clan herself, stealing from the innocent and torturing the frightened. It was a stupid decision that she had made, and she was glad that she had a positive change in her heart. She vowed that she would never cross paths with the clan again, the very clan that she founded and led with a corrupted heart.

"But what's so special about the book?!" Gajeel bit out, causing Levy to snap out of her thoughts.

The older man sighed out. "The book is an ancient piece of literature, written by one of the very first dragons to appear on Earth. Inside this book holds knowledge that could make even a dimwit like yourself smarter than anyone in existence. It also contains locked away powers that can be unlocked once more by simply reading the passage aloud. It's quite a fascinating book, but if possessed and used by a man of evil, it could easily bring upon worldly disasters, perhaps the end of the world even."

"If gaining the power is that easy, wouldn't you think that the clan would have had to have read it by now?" Lily pondered.

"Ah, but that's the trick. You see, this book was written by a dragon, a dragon with no knowledge of humans quite yet. Therefore, he had written it in an ancient dragon language known as Ferdahs-Nahn'Duurmict. Only those with the knowledge of such a language could ever possibly read the book. I'm not certain if any of Shadow Gear know the language, but you need to hurry just in case," he explained.

Levy nearly snorted. She wasn't too sure about any of the newcomers, but she knew that the clan members she left behind weren't so knowledgeable in the art of knowing various languages. Her right-hand men, Jet and Droy, were highly unteachable with the subject. In fact, there was only one member that could speak various languages, both ancient and familiar ones, and that one person was...

"I actually know the language, Mr. Dreyar," Levy spoke up.

Both Gajeel, Lily, and Makarov froze in place, staring intensely at the short bookworm. It made her rather uncomfortable.

"Um...guys?" she asked hesitantly.

The small older man walked towards Levy, eyeing her curiously. "Levy, my dear. I want you to do something for me."

She nodded. "O'okay."

"Say 'The dragon, the protector of the intelligent one, he who shows no mercy' in Ferdahs-Nahn'Duurmict. Can you do that for me?" he asked.

"Sure. Um...Guiv Dragihndon, guiv andaas ti guv veritallas ceear, veh lohn zeerpihn neh rindahn," she said slowly, each word coming back into memory.

"GAH!" Gajeel suddenly grunted out, falling to his knees.

Levy ran over to him as if it were an instinct. "Gajeel! What's wrong??"

Instead of answering her, the dragon hybrid snapped his head towards Makarov, who was smiling innocently. "What did you do old man?! Tell me!!"

"I only helped you, Gajeel. But before you get too angry with me and walk away, you need to know this: one of my...spies had last seen Shadow Gear heading north, towards the village of Tenrou," he chuckled out, walking away.

"Oi! Get back here and tell me what you did!" Gajeel demanded, slowly standing back on his feet.

"Like I said, I only helped you, my boy!" the old man yelled back, walking back inside his mansion and shutting the door behind him.

"So, are we going or what?" Lily asked, glancing between Gajeel and Levy.

'That was...odd of him.'

"I guess we should go ahead and get going, right Gajeel?" she asked him.

"Uh, righ---"

His voice died out as he glanced down at the bookworm, his eyes widening as he began to stare at her. Levy could have sworn that that the scales on his cheeks were tinted pink.

"Um...Gajeel? Are you okay?" the bookworm asked him, her eyes narrowing at his intense staring.

At hearing her voice, he looked away. "Yea, yea I'm fine Shrimp. Come on."

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me th--AHH!"

He had wrapped his arms around her, jumping into the air and flying off. Lily was also flying, his bird-like wings gliding him around. Levy fought back her scream, knowing there wasn't a use for it.

And yet...there was something new to this flight. Something Levy didn't notice on the way to Makarov's mansion. When she finally did notice, a warm blush coated her cheeks.

Gajeel had his arms wrapped around her securely as if she were his most valuable prize. And for some odd reason, Levy didn't mind at all.

'Oh, what's wrong with me?!'


	8. Chapter 8

-Levy-

When they arrived in the village of Tenrou, they noticed immediately at how strange this little village really was.

Almost every building around was incredibly run-down, the windows shattered and the yards overgrown with weeds and such. One would think that the village would house no residents, and yet the trio saw many walking down the streets, though no one smiled or chatted amongst one another.

"I don't like this place at all," Gajeel mumbled, having already transformed into his human form.

"Is it because of the village's appearance or the fact that you despise us humans?" Levy wondered, trying not to draw too much attention to them.

Gajeel simply snorted. "Both."

She then proceeded to slap the dragon hybrid on his shoulder. "Idiot!"

Some of the residents glanced over at them, causing Levy to blush and keep her mouth shut.

"I know this place looks strange, but we do need answers about Shadow Gear," Lily mentioned, climbing up Levy to snuggle in her arms.

The little bookworm smiled slightly down at the black and white cat, rubbing his ears. It caused Lily to smile brightly and purr.

"Lily's right Shrimp. Let's just find someone and ask 'em about the thieves." Gajeel grabbed onto Levy's arm, dragging her along with him towards a random villager.

But what the cat and dragon didn't know about was the fact that Levy already knew where the Shadow Gear's clan was located at. It was her that created the thievery in the first place. She knew that asking around for directions would be a waste of time.

It was her fault for the condition of the village. Three years ago, at the young age of fourteen, Levy had planned an attack, her first attack. Of course, she would never show her face during these attacks. She merely planned them and instructed her minions to perform the task for her. They were all a bunch of idiots anyways, allowing their faces to be known throughout the entirety of the kingdom. She knew better, but she also never corrected her little workers.

But her first attack was on this little village, and it was a huge success. Her minions managed to collect every jewel, every valuable item. All that was left, was a village of damaged beings, both physically and emotionally. It was all her fault, and yet she cared nothing of it at the time.

"Darnit! I told ya to tell me where Shadow Gear is! Why won't ya tell me?!" Gajeel's demanding voice rang out all throughout the village.

Levy, snapping out of her thoughts, sighed at his stupidity and walked over towards the hybrid and the frightened man.

"Gajeel! He obviously knows nothing. Let's just hurry through the village and figure it out on our own," she offered, dragging the still ranting dragon away from the man, who had most likely wet his pants at the menacing looking Gajeel.

"Then why did Gramps tell us about this place?!" Gajeel asked, obviously not calming down.

'He has a good point. Why did Makarov send us here? They know nothing about Shadow Gear. The only connection that they have towards my old clan is the mere fact that they were the very first victims of Shadow Gear. Wait a minute...'

"Shrimp! Stop daydreaming and come on! Didn't you say you wanna leave and find it on our own?" he snapped at the short woman.

"Don't call me that! And sorry, I was just thinking about something that might help us!" she defended herself.

He scowled at her. "Tch, whatever. Let's just go."

Holding Lily closely to her, Levy followed Gajeel through the town. It broke her heart seeing this village again, still so devastated after the thieving. She would have thought that the village would once again be well and thriving, but she assumed wrong.

"What were you thinking about?" Lily asked as he sat up in the blunette's arms.

She smiled down at him. "I just...remember reading something about this village. It has a connection to Shadow Gear, and I think I may know where the clan is located."

"Why didn't you say something sooner, Shrimp?! Hurry up and tell me! I wanna kick some butt and get my money sooner than later, ya know," he growled at her.

Levy pouted at Gajeel, though she didn't really pay attention. And yet something...rather odd happened. She noticed that Gajeel's scowl immediately went away once his eyes looked at her pout. He even appeared guilty, which confused the bookworm even more.

"Gajee--"

"Look Shrimp. I didn't mean to make ya all sad an' stuff. I'm sorry, okay?"

With a small gasp, Levy snapped her head upwards to stare at Gajeel. She couldn't believe her ears when she heard his statement.

"What did you say?" she asked.

He snapped at her. "You know darn well what I just said, and I ain't gonna repeat it!!"

But instead of feeling sad like before, the little bookworm smiled at the hybrid, giggling.

"Thank you, Gajeel." she said to him softly, a small smile on her face.

"Tch. Yea, whatever. Can we just go kick some butt already?" he grumbled out, his cheeks slightly tinted pink.

Pretending that she didn't notice his blush(or her own for that matter), Levy McGarden began to walk away from the village. "Come on, Dragon Boy! If I remember correctly, I remember the story mentioning that the clan is this way!"

"Don't call me that, and I'm comin'!"

Catching up to the small blunette, the trio traveled onwards towards a mountainous region. Small clusters of trees appeared every now and then, but for the most part, this area was pretty much barren. It consisted of hilly fields and flower-covered meadows, which then formed into the mountain range.

This area brought back so many unwanted memories to Levy. She remembered when she was thirteen, a runaway from her own village. It was here that she made her first home, and she wondered if the small little shack was still around. Though with the hurricanes that last year's summer brought, she highly doubted it.

She was even more frightened than ever before now. She wasn't dumb, as she knew what the result of this quest would be. Gajeel and Lily were going to find out about her past, and it made her feel...so depressed. Despite only knowing the dragon for nearly two days, she already had become used to his rude ways. He kidnapped her, and yet she doesn't seem to mind anymore.

'But why?'

What will happened when Gajeel and Lily find out that Levy was once apart of the Shadow Gear clan? What will happen when they discover that she herself created this clan?

The last thing that she wanted was for them to hate her. True, she already believed that Gajeel hated her guts, but Lily was such a cutie. She already considered him a friend, but would that sweet little cat hate her too?

"Shrimp!! Look out!!"

"Wha?--"

But it was already too late. A duo of cloaked figures had already grabbed Levy, pulling her away towards an odd looking cave. With her hands bound behind her, she ended up dropping Lily onto the ground.

Gajeel leaped forward, ready to kill the two mysterious men. However, it proved to be a fail, as one of the men tossed a smoke bomb on the ground. It exploded, causing Gajeel to temporarily go blind.

Throughout the chaos, the duo of mysterious figures successfully managed to steal Levy away.

~~~~~~

Levy awoke to discover that she was tied up to a chair, her feet chained together. Despite struggling with all her might, the small woman failed to loosen the rope, even by just a little.

Glancing around, she decided to take in her surroundings. Immediately, she recognized this place as her old office. She was at Shadow Gear Headquarters, a place she promised herself to never go back to, no matter how hard her life became.

The office itself brought back such terrible memories, memories that reminded her of all the innocent people, the men, women, and children, that all died under her very command.

"Let me go! Let me go right now!" she demanded, struggling against the chains and ropes once more.

"Hmm...I don't think we should. Should we?" a male voice called out from within the shadows.

"Haha! Of course not! She needs to remember that she belongs here, with us! And not those worthless targets.." another male voice spoke out from the same spot.

Instantly, Levy knew who those voices belonged to. She never wanted to see those idiots again, but it seems that now she had no choice.

"Jet? Droy? Is that you?"

As if on cue, two men appeared from within the shadows. One of the men, Jet, was of average height and fit, with orange hair and black eyes. His lean build suggested that he was a fast runner. The other man, Droy, was quite the opposite. Though he was tall, he was also very much overweight, with black hair that pointed up in a very odd hairstyle, eyes that were black as well.

"Hello, Levy. Nice to see you again," Jet purred out, his attraction towards the girl still very much obvious.

She had known that both men were in love with her, and seem to still be. But she didn't love them back, turning each down in a heartbeat. It didn't stop them from attempting to impress her, however, as they always volunteered for the most challenging of jobs. Eventually, Levy appointed the duo as her right-hand men, but she made sure that they knew she did it for their skills and not for any romantic reasons.

"What do you want with me?" Levy asked them bluntly, getting straight to the point.

"Isn't it obvious? We want you to become our leader again!" Droy barked out, his eyes glaring at hers.

"My apologies boys, but I'm not who I use to be. My leadership to this clan is now in the past, and it will never return into the present," she said as calmly as she could.

Smirking, Jet slowly walked up to her. Levy assumed that he was only going to try and intimidate her, but that thought was quickly erased when she felt a horrible pain in her thigh, causing her to cry out in agony.

"You will join us again now!!" Jet yelled at her, digging the dagger further into her thigh.

"N'never!! I'll never join this c'cl'clan again!!" she bit out, despite the horrible pain coursing through her body.

The dagger when completely through her thigh, stabbing through the wooden chair as well.

"AAHHG!!"

The orange headed man leaned closer to Levy, his smirk never fading away. "Either you join Shadow Gear again and become our leader, or we will slowly torture you until every last drop of your blood is dripped onto this floor."

Levy choked back a sob, refusing to say anything.

After a few minutes, Jet sighed. "You could have made this easy for all of us Levy, but oh well." He glanced over at Droy, "Bring the...supplies that we will need."

The little bookworm began to cry softly.

'Gajeel...please find me! I don't care if you're an idiot! I need you!'


	9. Chapter 9

~Gajeel~

 

Once the smoke from the smoke bomb finally cleared up, Gajeel was left to discover a horrid outcome. His mate, his Shrimp, taken from him. Despite not wanting a mate, the hybrid couldn't help but feel guilty towards this situation. Had he watched the little bookworm more closely, she most likely would still be here with him, with what he guessed to be her new family.

'Those idiots will pay with their lives when I find them! Stupid, worthless humans.'

Though his mate was a human, he still hated the entire race in general. To hell with the fact that he was half human. To hell with the fact that his mother was human. The disgusting race proved day in and day out of how greedy and unworthy they were.

~Mate and Mother are the only exceptions.

'It was our parents who put us in this mess, and who gives a crap about Levy?!'

"Gajeel! Stop sulking around and come on! I'm sure they left their scent behind. I mean, it's not like they would ever guess that you had super senses or anything," Lily mentioned as he roughly patted the top of Gajeel's head, his feather wings keeping him in place.

Swatting the cat away, he began to walk. "I'm only going for the mission. If we find the Shrimp along the way, I'll save her. But that's it, got it?"

The small cat managed to catch up to his companion, a glare on his face. "Do you really hate the fact of having a mate that badly? She is supposed to be the girl you love and cherish, and look at you! You're letting some guys do whatever that want with her!"

The dragon hybrid suddenly froze in his steps, his mind contemplating what Lily had just said. Here he was, an outcast who had no one to talk to but a flying cat and an old fairy man. He always had secretly wanted his mate, though he knew that her life would change for the worse if she had ever met and accepted him. And yet...Levy came. The little Shrimp barged into his cave, his home, and what did he do? He kidnapped the girl, holding her hostage and keeping her away from her friends and family.

He blamed his instincts. His inner beast wasn't going to simply let their mate walk away from him, and Gajeel knew good and well that his inner beast was twice, maybe even three times as more powerful. The monster could take control over him at any point, which led to the young man agreeing with most of his inner beast's wants and desires. He'd rather be in control while doing what the beast wanted, and what his beast wanted now was to save their little mate.

~Yes! Save mate! Save man and kill those fools for dare laying a finger on her!

'Fine, fine. We'll get the Shrimp back.'

"On second thought, I guess we can go an' find tha Shrimp, Cat," he grunted out, switching directions quickly.

Tilting his head into the air, he sniffed a few times, attempting to find the scent of his mate, the scent of ink and flowers. He'd never really paid attention to her scent before, and yet he still had it memorized. Now that he had a purposeful whiff of her scent, he wanted more. A new desire coursed through his veins, and Gajeel wasn't too sure if what was going on with him was a good or bad thing.

"They took her this way," he announced, running through a narrow ravine that was located deep within the mountain range.

The duo raced down the narrow pathway, suddenly halting when they reached a dead end. Both the hybrid and panther looked around to see if they could find a secret entrance of some sorts. Gajeel sniffed around, determining which area contained the strongest aroma of Levy's now addictive scent.

"Find anything yet??" Panterlily asked his companion.

"I'm working on it!"

Deeply inhaling the air, Gajeel concentrated on her scent and her scent only. Soon, he was able to pinpoint the area where her scent was the strongest. However, he still found the situation confusing, as her scent led him to a barren rock wall. He observed the area closely, seeing if he could find anything unusual about it. But, unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find anything different about this area. He knew there had to be an entrance here, but he just couldn't figure it out.

"Lily! I found the area where the entrance is, but I don't see nothin'!" he yelled towards his cat.

Pantherlily made his way over towards the obviously stressed out dragon hybrid.

"Look, don't try an' find a way in cas yer gonna be just as confused a--"

"Found it!"

"Whaa?!"

A large slab of the wall elevated upwards, creating an entrance for the duo to enter.

"Lily?! How did you find it?!" Gajeel asked, still in a state of shock.

The cat gave him a very bored look, pointing towards a stone switch. "It was there as obvious as can be, Gajeel."

"Tch, whatever. Let's just go inside," he mumbled, walking inside the entrance.

As they walked deeper into the tunnel, they noticed how there was very little lighting. There were also pictures hanging on the wall, one of a girl who Gajeel instantly recognized.

"What's Shrimp's picture doin' hanging on the wall?!" he whispered/yelled as he stared at the picture.

It was obviously Levy, but she seemed younger. Her face was more childlike, and her hair wasn't pushed back with a headband. It was much longer, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Even her expression was different. She wasn't cheerful or happy, but cold and emotionless. Her portrait held no smile, only a cold scowl. This Shrimp was a different Shrimp, a broken Shrimp.

"Gajeel?"

The hybrid glanced down at his companion. "Why do you think she looks so...sad?"

"I sense a secret past," Lily chimed in.

"Yea...let's just keep moving," Gajeel mumbled out.

They continued on down the tunnel, stopping when they reached a wooden door. Without pausing, Gajeel quickly opened the door. Instantly, new and disturbing scents swept over him, the strongest being the scent of blood. But it wasn't just ordinary blood, no. It was Levy's blood, his Shrimp's blood.

"The Shrimp's hurt!" Gajeel yelled out, not giving a crap at who heard him.

Grabbing Lily, the hybrid raced through the rooms, following the scent of her blood.

~Kill them! We will kill them for harming mate!

'Yer damn right we will!'

Barging into the final room, the only room with polished double doors, Gajeels breath caught in his throat at the sight that lay before him.

His little Shortie was tied up to a chair, her bloody feet chained together. A dagger was stabbed through her thigh, blood pouring out from it and dripping onto the floor. One of her eyes was turning black, and her nose was clearly busted. Blood dripped from her mouth and nose. She even had bruises and deep gash wounds all over her body, and the hybrid's anger increased at each one he counted. As he looked at her, he growled at the sight of the word, 'our leader' , engraved onto her other thigh with what had to have been another dagger.

'To hell with the consequences! This is MY Shrimp! MY mate! And she'll know who she belongs to by the end of today!'

Rushing over to her, he snapped the rope, unwinding it from her body. He also ate away the chains, giving her freedom to move again.

"G'Gajeel?"

The young hybrid man glanced down at his little mate, her eyes barely opened. He gave her a small smile, leaning down and nuzzling the top of her head.

"I'm gettin' you out of here Shrimp. Yer gonna be fine," he promised her, picking her up and holding her close to him.

"D'don't....c'call me that," she attempted to scold him, but she ended up smiling in the end.

Chuckling with his signature 'Gihi', Gajeel carried Levy out of the room, Lily following behind them. Walking through the rooms, the hybrid glanced around every now and then, wondering where the culprits who had done this were.

'I ain't lettin' em get off this easy!'

But, it seemed as if they had disappeared. He didn't bother with that too much at the moment, as getting Levy medical attention was more important.

~Do you want Mate now? Do you?

'......Yea, guess I do.'

The warm feeling that Gajeel received from having his mate so close to him had proven to become quite addictive. It was as if he finally gained enough common sense to see more of the world than fighting and hating humans. He knew that now, Levy would be one of his top priorities. Though it made him somewhat guilty that it took his little Shrimp getting beat up and stabbed to get him to finally realize what he needed in this messed-up, insane world. And what he needed was for his mate to be at his side, forever.

'I'll slowly introduce her into my world. Then, I'll court her, inject her with my venom to give her my life-span, and then...'

The sound of footsteps broke Gajeel from his thoughts, causing him to glance over towards the approaching figures. He heard Levy wince and bury her herself deeper into her chest. It gave him the knowledge that these were the idiots that dared to harm his mate.

"And where do you think you're going with her?" the shorter, but skinner man asked with venom laced into his voice.

"You two gotta lot of nerve stealing my girl from me," the hybrid growled out, his instincts kicking in, which caused him to miss Levy's gasp and widened eyes.

"We wanted our leader back, but she refused to return to her old ways. We weren't going to let her foolish choice go unpunished," the large one bit out, glaring at Gajeel.

Setting Levy down behind him, Gajeel smirked evilly towards the duo of idiots. "I don't give a crap about her past. You got yourselves a nice, long death sentence for messin' with Shrimp!"

"Oh? Would you care if I told you that this is the headquarters of Shadow Gear and that the girl behind you created this thievery and was even once the leader of it?" the orange headed man inquired.

Gajeel was shocked at that statement, but he shook his head to focus on killing these morons.

'I can ask Shrimp about that later, but right now, these fools need ta die for what they did to Shortie!'

"I don't care! Now prepare to die! Death by the dragon hybrid!"

Growling in slight pain, Gajeel quickly transformed into his dragon humanoid form, shocking the Shadow Gear clan members.

"You're..."

"It can't be!"

Laughing darkly, Gajeel shot out, swiping his iron claws across the orange head, knocking him quickly to the floor. The pudgy one attempted to slash at Gajeel with his sword, only to discover that his skin was now entirely composed of iron dragon scales. Laughing his 'Gihi' laugh again, Gajeel punched the large one, causing him to fall down onto the ground as well.

"Shrimp. I don't know what you've seen or done in yer life, but you might wanna close yer eyes."

With that said, Gajeel allowed his very angered and very dangerous inner beast to surface. His eyes began to glow blue as his beast surfaced and took control of his body. With a mighty roar, the beast tore apart the men, slicing and dicing. Blood spewed everywhere, covering the floor and walls with it. Gajeel himself was completely drenched with the men's blood, but he could care less.

"That's right! Bleed from every crevice of your body! Scream until your vocal cords explode into nothing! Watch as I rip apart your flesh into nothing more than scattered bone and sliced organs!" the beast snarled out, laughing evilly as he made short work of the men.

Soon, the beast had his fill of vengeance and revenge for his mate, allowing Gajeel to take over his body again. Gajeel, now beginning to gain control of his body, wobbled around, eventually slumping against a wall. He glanced over towards Levy, who was utterly shocked by what she just saw.

"I warned ya to look away, Shrimp. He wasn't very happy with them," he told her softly.

When she didn't respond, he glanced over to see that her eyes were watering. Sighing, he walked over towards her and picked her back up once he had full control over his body. She, much to his surprise, snuggled back into him. He would have thought that she wouldn't due to his blood-drenched clothes.

Smiling slightly, he carried her out of the Shadow Gear hideout, Lily following behind them once more.

"You have a lot of explainin' to do, Shrimp."


	10. Chapter 10

-Levy-

When Levy finally woke up from her slumber, as she had passed out in Gajeel's arms on the way back, she was surprised to see that she was not back at the hybrid's cave home. Instead, she was tucked into a large, king sized bed with a royal blue covering. Glancing to her right, she noticed that her arm, which was laying out on her side, was heavily bandaged. In fact, she was almost certain that nearly her entire body was bandaged.

She hadn't forgotten anything during her nap. She remembered the way that her old clan members treated her. She remembered the burning, the beating, the slashing, everything. And she also remembered how...protective Gajeel became of her. The little bookworm remembered the brutal and nearly disturbing way Gajeel had killed Jet and Droy. Though she was fairly use to seeing such activity from her days as Shadow Gear leader, she never witnessed such an act by one man alone.

True, he wasn't fully a man, but he was enough of a man for Levy to declare him as such. And...simply the way he looked at her. Those ruby red eyes that held such concern for her damaged figure. She had never seen such concern held for one person alone ever. What on Earth had made him change so drastically and so quickly?

She truly thought that the dragon man hated her so. After all, she had purposely crossed over into his territory. Surely someone such as he would not pity over a girl who basically changed his life forever, perhaps for the worse. And yet...he had called her something, a declared title on her behalf.

'My girl...he had declared I his female, but...but why?'

"Levy?"

The small, pained woman glanced up and over towards the door. Standing in the doorway, Gajeel looked over the woman, his eyed narrowed as if searching for something.

"Yes...what is it?" she asked.

He smiled slightly at her, crossing the room in only a few steps, a hint towards how tall this man was. Sitting down in a delicately decorated wooden chair, he gently took hold of one of her hands with his own. "We need to talk, Shrimp."

The blunette pouted towards him. "Don't call me that..."

Chuckling with his usual 'Gihi' sound, Gajeel leaned closer towards her. "How about we make a game out of this, hmm? Ya got questions for me, and I got questions for ya. So how about I ask one, and then you, and we go from there?"

She nodded. "Fair enough."

"So, what are yer connections to Shadow Gear?" he asked.

Levy sighed softly. "Three years ago, I was homeless and broke. I didn't know what to do, and I was far too young to qualify for a job. Returning home was out of the question. I ended up running into a small group of thrives, and using my high intelligence, I made a deal with them. I told them that we could form a Thievery clan, a clan that I would be the leader of. I told them that I would scout out areas of possible loot and plan the attacks. The only thing that they had to do was act out my plans and retrieve the jewels and such. Over the course of one year, we became of the most feared thievery clans that went by the name of Shadow Gear."

"Wow...I would have never expected yer little innocent ass to be caught up on that side of the money makin'." he chuckled out.

"What about you? Why the change in heart all of a sudden?" she asked.

"Ya wouldn't believe me if I told ya," the dragon hybrid mumbled out.

Levy smiled at him. "Try me. You never know, and besides, I answered your question. Now, you have to answer mine!"

"Well, there was more to the reasoning behind me keepin' ya at my cave. Ya see, when dragons are born, their inner beast, the animal in them, chooses a soul mate for the dragon to one day find and marry. You'd think that they stick to their own species, but nope! My old man got paired up with a human! But she loved that idiot for some reason. Now I'm guessing' human soul mates run in tha family, cas my inner beast picked ya to be my soul mate. I didn't wanna burden you with the hardships of bein' an outcast like me, so I ignored ya. Then ya just had to get attacked by a bear. I couldn't control my instincts, so I had no choice but to save ya. Then ya ended up in my home! So I couldn't just lecha ya leave. My beast woulda takin' over my body and marked ya to force ya ta like me or somethin' like that. So I thought you could live with me an' tha cat. But this...I couldn't ignore it after this. Seein' my mate, seein' ya all beat up and bloody didn't settle with me. I couldn't ignore ya anymore, Levy. I couldn't. Yer mine now whether ya like it or not, got it?" he explained.

For some reason, when Gajeel declared that Levy was his, she became instantly happy about it. But why? He basically said that he's going to force her to marry him, possibly even to have children as well. However, the little bookworm wasn't at all mad about that. Sure those two delinquents had a thing for her, but they simply were not her type. Come to think of it, neither was Gajeel, but at the same time, something was different about him.

"So you're going to force me to marry you?" she asked.

He chuckled. "You already asked your question Shrimp."

"Don't call me that! And I'm serious."

The hybrid smiled softly down at her. "No, I ain't gonna force ya into anything. I'm gonna impress ya, show ya that I'm the best guy around!"

This caused Levy to laugh. "I feel bad for you, being paired up with a...dare I say it, shrimpy girl."

"Now that's where yer wrong shrimp. You aren't just any shrimp that no one cares about. See, you aren't a shrimp, yer my shrimp, and that's a huge difference. Yer cute and adorable. Other shrimps are annoying as heck. Ya get what I mean?" he explained, a smile planted on his face.

The little bookworm smiled brightly at him, tears forming in her eyes. "No one has ever said something so nice to me before."

"Tch, don't get all emotional Shortie. It was only a compliment," Gajeel grumbled out.

Since the top portion of the hybrid's body was leaning over Levy, she took this opportunity and leaned up slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing him for a hug. "Thank you, Gajeel, for everything."

"Um..yea Shrimp," he replied, hugging back.

Pulling apart, they stared into each other's eyes. Levy was able to finally openly stare into the ruby red eyes that had fascinated her so. His lips tilted upward in a smirk.

"What do you see?" he asked.

She didn't even hesitate to answer. "Eyes as beautiful a red as a rare gem, so full of emotion, unknown feelings that I want to know."

Unknowingly, the bookworm and dragon hybrid leaned in closer to one another. Their noses touched gently together. The smirk on Gajeel's face widened ever so slightly.

"Can I?" he asked her, his voice very soft and gentle.

She smiled and giggled. "Yes, you can."

Slowly, they leaned in closer. Their lips brushed against each other, and--

"Gajeel!! Is Levy awake yet?!" the voice of Makarov called out as he burst through the door.

The hybrid, who now had a deep blush covering his cheeks, snapped his head away from the bookworm, glaring and growling at the old man. Makarov paled instantly, realizing what he had just interrupted.

"Oh..hehe. Sorry, children, I--"

"YER GONNA GET IT OLD FAIRY MAN!" Gajeel chased after the old man, the sounds of various items being broken followed.

Levy sat up on the bed, sighing as she heard the sounds of their footsteps all across what seemed to be the mansion.

'Maybe, it was a good thing that Makarov interrupted us....oh, who am I kidding. Stupid old man! Gah! He's already rubbing off on me!'


	11. Chapter 11

-Levy-

After the guys had settled down, Makarov, now very bruised, sat down in a chair on the other side of the bedroom. Levy was much too weak to leave the room just yet, as she had lost an incredible amount of blood. It's a wonder that she didn't die from such injuries. The bookworm wasn't exactly sure how long she had been out, but from clues that came from the hybrid and old man, she was guessing that it was a normal nightly nap.

"May I ask how long I was asleep?" the little woman asked, glancing between each male.

"A little over a week, my dear. Your loss of blood and severe injuries caused your body to shut down and go into a small coma. I'm truly surprised that you are awake already," he admitted.

"Yea. Tha old fairy thought thatcha were gonna be out for at least a month. But I ain't complainin'," Gajeel added in.

Levy gaped at the both of them, shocked beyond belief. She had assumed that she had been asleep for a couple of days at the most, but over a week? Still, she shouldn't be all that surprised. Jet and Droy had injured her pretty severely after all.

"Oh..." She didn't know what to say to that.

Suddenly, Makarov gave Levy a pointed and stern look, which confused the little bookworm. "Young lady, we have quite a few things to discuss."

She became increasingly nervous. "Oh? What about?"

"I know who you are, Levy. You actually have no idea as to how lucky you truly are. You see, I had sent spies to join Shadow Gear over a year ago in order to gain top secret information. The main component that we were after was the identity of Shadow Gear's leader. To be honest with you, I assumed ahead of time that the leader would be a tall, scary, horrible and disgusting looking man, much like Gajeel," he explained.

"Oi! Whatcha tryin' ta say ya wrinkled up prune!" the hybrid yelled out, obviously insulted with the old man's words.

However, Levy was too frightened and nervous to notice. She was afraid that her chances at starting a new and better life had been wiped away for good.

Makarov then cleared his throat. "Anyways, we were all shocked to discover that the mastermind behind the thievery operation was but a mere girl, not even a fully grown woman at that. At first, we didn't know what to do really. It seemed as if you were simply a corrupted child who found stealing and murdering a sort of...play time. So, we merely observed for a month or so. Afterwards, I had rounded my spies together in order to reveal to them my plan of capturing you. But...when my spies returned, they were shocked to find Shadow Gear in total distress. It seemed that the leader had vanished, and right under our noses as well. We tried tracking you down, but it was as if you had disappeared off of the face of this Earth. And then now, I find you again, but with a different name. I come to find by, erm, accident, that you apparently are closely connected to a boy whom I see as one of my own grandchildren. Now, I can't take away the one component that will bring him true happiness, can I?"

The young woman gulped, not knowing what the little fairy man would do. Gajeel was somewhat leaning over Levy, as a sort of protective stance.

"Just remember this, Levy McGarden, or should I say, Delea Lunaster. You are a very lucky girl indeed," Makarov told her softly.

"Delea Lunaster?" Gajeel questioned.

The blunette nodded. "Uh, yea. It's a fake name that I used while I was the leader of Shadow Gear. Even though I never participated in any hands-on activities, I still wanted to keep a low profile in case something...such as what actually occurred, happened."

The old man smiled. "You are a very intelligent child. You had no excuse for creating what you had created, but I must say, you even outsmarted a three thousand-year-old fairy. And for that, I must say well done."

"Three thousand?!" Levy shrieked out.

"Gihi. I ain't kiddin' when I call him an old fairy man," the dragon hybrid chuckled out.

The old man huffed. "You really aren't all that young, Gajeel. Aren't you turning two hundred and forty-three next week?"

She gasped, glancing up at Gajeel with shock. "Your two hundred and forty-three?!"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm two hundred and forty-two. I won't be that other age until....well, next week," he replied back rather idiotically.

The little bookworm cringed. "I'm only seventeen! Don't you think that's kinda weird??"

'I have a crush on a guy who probably knew my triple great grandfather's grandfather.....what's wrong with me?!'

"Gihi. Don't worry shrimp. I'm only around nineteen or twenty in human years. Dragons live for thousands of years," he revealed to her.

This statement caused the little bookworm to become rather curious. If she only lived to be eighty or ninety, then what would he do without her for the next who knows how many years?

"But I don't live that long, Gajeel. How does that work?" she asked.

However, the little bookworm instantly regretted asking the question. Makarov paled and his eyes widened greatly, beads of sweat dripping down his face. Gajeel, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. His red eyes darkened into more of a crimson red color, and a feral yet lust-like smirk appeared on his face. He stared at Levy with those darkened, beastly eyes.

"Erm....I'm going to go and..um, get a few kiwis for...Pantherlily..." Makarov trailed off, making a run for the door.

Levy was actually incredibly surprised at the man's speed. She would have never guessed that a man as old as him could run so fast. But her mind wasn't particularly on that matter, but more on the matter of the beastly man that was smirking almost menacingly down at her.

"Do ya really wanna know how that works Shrimp?"

Despite her inner mind screaming at her to attempt at backing away from the hybrid, her curiosity got the better of her.

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

Chuckling, he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck, leaving kisses on the spot every now and then. "It starts with this area of yer neck."

He began to lap at it with his long, nearly reptilian-like tongue. "I clean the area with my saliva. Don't want ya gettin' any unwanted infections Shrimp."

Levy couldn't help herself at this rate. Her movements had gone completely slack, enjoying the new-found pleasure that this hybrid was giving her. A soft moan escaped from her mouth accidentally, causing the blunette to blush madly. The hybrid chuckled against her skin, causing a strange yet wonderful vibration feeling to flow around her entire body.

Suddenly, he removed his lips and tongue from her neck, causing Levy to groan in protest. He merely chuckled at her, leaning in towards her face, their lips now only a few centimeters apart.

"And then...I take a break an' kiss those beautiful plump lips of yers," he purred out, meeting her lips with his own.

He kissed her gently, sensing that no other man had ever laid claim to these lips before. He would be the first...and the last, to kiss the little blushing bookworm underneath him. She moaned, enjoying the fact that he was so gentle with her, not roughly massaging her lips in a type of kiss she found personally unsuitable as a first.

After a few moments, he parted the kiss, allowing the both of them to gulp in needed air.

He smirked down at her, returning his face to the crook of her neck. Lapping at her neck for a second or two, he then proceeded to press his fangs against her neck very gently, barely scraping them against her neck. "And now, the final step. I bite down and turn ya into one of me."

Levy suddenly gasped, knowing that she wasn't quite ready for that. "Wait! Gajeel, don't--"

The young woman was cut off suddenly by a sheer pain coursing throughout her body. Its source, a pair of fangs that were deeply embedded in her neck. Gajeel had marked her, allowing her to age as slow as a dragon, allowing her...to become a dragon.

'You idiot! I don't want this yet, Gajeel! I don't want this!'


	12. Chapter 12

-Levy-

Something...felt very odd for Levy. She didn't feel the soft and cozy bed that she had rested upon for the past several days. In fact, she felt as if she was not even indoors! The sun was shining brightly upon her face, causing the little bookworm to slowly blink her eyes open. She winced as the intense rays of the sunshine penetrated her eyes.

Sitting up, Levy rubbed her eyes and yawned, looking around. She gasped when she realized where she was. She was no longer at Makarov's mansion or even Gajeel's cave house for that matter. No, she was actually on the outskirts of the village of Magnolia, her home.

'But...isn't my home now with Gajeel and Lily?'

She was beyond confused as to why she was here. After all, the dragon hybrid, who was also apparently her soul mate, had forced her into staying with him. He never wanted her around the village again, afraid that she would reveal his true existence.

'So why am I here? How did I get here?!'

Suddenly, she then realized that there was something folded in her lap. She switched positions, wincing at a pain, pain in two rather...unusual places. One source of the pain was located in the crook of her neck. She remembered the day previous, how he kissed her, how he loved her so. But she also remembered him doing something else. She remembered him biting her in the crook of her neck, causing her to pass out. The rest is unknown to her. The second source of pain was somewhere even more bizarre...but she didn't assume much of it.

Unfolding the letter, her eyes watered somewhat when she realized that this letter was written by Gajeel, her Gajeel. She began to read it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

My dearest Levy,

Shrimp, words cannot express how sorry I am. I allowed my inner beast to take advantage of you, in more ways than one. I've always been afraid of him, afraid he would destroy if I didn't allow him what he desired. And what he desired was you, all of you.

The mark on your neck is no ordinary mark. This mark gives you the ability to turn into a dragon hybrid, but not a full dragon. It also grants you a dragon's lifespan. You're going to live for thousands of years, Shrimp. You're going to watch your friends and family die, generation by generation. You won't be able to join them in the afterlife until you fulfilled your lifespan, and it's all my fault.

And I...I also did something that I'm not proud of, at all. I did something so bad to you, Shrimp. You weren't awake and...I'm so sorry little one. I'm really sorry. He wanted to, and I was scared he would get mad and accidentally kill you if I didn't let him do it.

Shrimp, I let my inner beast surface while you were unconscious, and I let him mate you. I let him take advantage of you while you were vulnerable, and I'll never be able to forgive myself for doing that to you.

If you are pregnant, I want to ask you for something. Raise that baby as a human. Tell him that his old man died saving you from a thief. It's not a total lie, anyways. I just don't want him or her to know what I did to you. They don't need to live their life knowing that they were created out of...well, that.

That's why I brought you back to Magnolia. Live happily with your friends and family. I'll never forget you, Levy McGarden, or that crazy adventure we had together.

And Shrimp? I love you. I know you didn't love me, probably never would love me, but I want you to know that. Don't think that my inner beast did that out of pure lust. My inner beast loved you, he's just...well, he's an animal. Anything he did was out of love, believe it or not. Even if it was, in the end, very wrong to ever do.

Farewell, little Shrimp. I'll always watch over you. Oh, and don't name our kid anything Sissy. I was thinking Rogue for a boy. Maybe Delea if it's a girl. What? I like your fake name.

But anyways, I'll watch you day and night, protect you from any danger.

Love,

Gajeel

~~~~~~~~~~~

The little bookworm reread the letter over and over again, tears streaming down her face. A choked sob escaped from her mouth. She curled into a ball, shaking and sobbing aloud.

"You idiot. I hate you. I hate you.....I...hate you..." Levy whispered to herself.

'He...but, I still love him? Why? He left me alone to deal with his mistake, instead of being a man and facing me in person about it. You...you idiot.'

She stayed curled up, not knowing what to do at this point. She spent so little time with that hybrid. She managed to find a soft side with him, and then this happened.

'Perhaps the elder woman was right. He truly is the monster of the mountains.'

"Levy? Levy!!" someone called out.

Glancing up, the little bookworm spotted Natsu rushing towards her. He bent down, checking her for injuries. "Are you alright Levy?! You've been gone for two weeks! What happened?!"

She simply shook her head. She didn't want anyone finding out about the true situation. Despite what Gajeel had done to her, she still loved him, and she wanted to protect him at all costs. "I never made it to the cave. I ended up lost in the forest, and I finally found my way back."

Picking Levy up, Natsu gently carried her back towards the village.

"You know...Lucy had the baby while you were gone. It's a girl."

Glancing up at the pink-headed commander, she smiled. "Really? Who does she look like? What's her name?"

Natsu smiled. "Heh. She's got my hair color, but other than that, she looks like Luce."

"A pink headed Lucy? That's something new to say," the short woman giggled out.

Natsu laughed with her. "And Lucy wants you to name our daughter. Call it a 'Welcome Home' present."

"Me? Are you okay with that?" she asked.

"Of course! You're Lucy's best friend! Your family to us!"

Levy smiled, her eyes watering.

They remained silent as Natsu carried her into his house. "Hey, Luce! Look what I got for ya!"

"Natsu! Be quiet, the baby is trying t--Levy?! LEVY!!" Lucy shouted, grabbing her friend out of Natsu's hold, hugging her tightly.

The little bookworm began to choke slightly. "Uh, Luce...can't...b'breath!"

"Oh! Sorry!" The tall blonde released her hold on her friend, allowing the blunette to gulp in a few breaths.

"What happened Lev?! What took you so long getting back?!"

"She told me that she never made it to the cave, that she got lost in the forest. It took her two weeks to find a way back," Natsu answered for her.

Nodding, Lucy suddenly gasped. "Hey, you wanna see the baby??"

"Sure!" Levy replied excitedly.

Lucy squealed and led her best friend through the house, coming across a door that was painted a light blue. Opening it, the taller woman led Levy over to a wooden crib, where a tiny, pink headed baby slept.

The smaller woman's eyes sparkled as she observed the baby sleeping. The baby reminded her, suddenly, of her own situation.

'I might...have one of those. I might...become a mother. But... but...'

She didn't notice that she was crying until arms pulled her into a warm hug.

"Levy? What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "I guess it's from being lost for so long."

The blonde offered Levy a chair to sit in, the bookworm instantly sitting down.

"Oh, Luce?"

"Hm?" she questioned.

Levy smiled towards the baby. "Is it true that you wanted me to name the baby?"

Lucy nodded eagerly. "That's right! Do you have any ideas?"

"Lily," she instantly responded, already knowing what she wanted the baby to be named.

"Lily? I like it! It's so cute!" Lucy gushed, Levy giggling at her.

"Yea, it is cute. But hey, I'm going to go over to my home, okay? I need to dust the place after being away for so long," Levy told her friend jokingly, hiding the sadness away from her.

Lucy laughed lightly. "Oh, alright. I agree with you on that statement."

Laughing along with her, the small woman stood up, making her way out of the baby room. She walked down the hallway and past the living room, exiting the house. Luckily for the depressed blunette, her house wasn't very far from Lucy's. She made it there within five minutes, opening her door and running in, slamming the door behind her.

She ran and ran, tears streaming down her face. She burst into her room, jumping onto her bed and sobbing loudly. She cried for hours, even screaming into her pillow at times. "Gajeel, you idiot! You stupid idiot! I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

She glanced out her window that was beside her bed, staring at the sunset beyond her. A few more tears slipped down her face. Her scowl softened, and even a small smile suddenly formed, as she stared off into the beautiful sunset.

'I hate you.'


	13. Chapter 13

-Levy-

 

It had been several months since Gajeel left the little bookworm alone at her village. Magnolia had been relieved and happy that their new librarian was finally back from her journey, though some were actually rather upset that she didn't get to see what was really inside of the mountain cave(though she really did, but refused to give out Gajeel's location). Lily was growing up fast, appearing more and more as her mother each and every day, with Natsu's pink hair of course! Life was getting back to normal for the village, or so it seemed.

Levy was spending more and more time indoors. In fact, she hadn't visited anyone in the last three months. Lucy even attempted to break into her home, but the clever bookworm had a feeling that she would. She changed the locks on all of her doors, and she even acquired special locks on her windows as well. She wanted no one to see her in the state that she was in.

She was still depressed that her love felt as if he didn't deserve her. True, the beast within him had done something that would change the average woman for the worst. But for Levy, it was quite different. She didn't blame the hybrid, as she knew that he constantly dealt with the insane fact that another being lived within him, his dragon. She knew that if anyone were to blame someone, it would be the one being that no one could punish...unless beating up Gajeel counted.

'But it doesn't count for me. I'm not mad at him, not at all. I...I love him. I'm not afraid to admit that anymore. He may be an idiot when it comes to making decisions, but he's my idiot.'

To make matters worse for the little woman, she was heavily pregnant with his child, their child. She was nearing full-term, which meant that she would have to face the village soon, tell them that there was more to her two-week disappearance than what she had originally revealed to them. They would end up mad at her for sure, but it wasn't her that she feared for. It was Gajeel and their baby. She was afraid that the village would attempt to harm them both, the baby for being the result of something negative, and Gajeel for, well the obvious.

Levy was walking towards the spare room in the back. Opening the door, she smiled at the sight.   
There was an iron crib, which included a cozy mattress and black and red covers. She nearly laughed at that, knowing that Gajeel wouldn't allow their child to be near anything "sissy".

He had made her this crib, bought her these blankets, and somehow managed to clean out her spare room and paint it a deep orange, contrasting from her bright orange walls in the other rooms. He managed to move everything in this room, managed to do all of these things without waking her up at night. When she first discovered what had happened to the room, she cried for the entire day, especially when she found a note taped to the side of the crib.

~~~~

Just making sure you don't sissy our baby, Little Shrimp. I told you that I would always watch over you.

-Gajeel

~~~~

From then on, it made her less depressed, knowing that her dragon wasn't fully out of her life. She figured out that the dragon visited her during the late night hours, while she slept. It gave her the idea to try and stay awake, hoping that she would catch the dragon hybrid, but it seemed that he always would know her motives. Whenever she tried this, he would never come during the night, but after waking up from finally passing out, she would smell his iron/outdoorsy scent on the pillow next to her. His scent always made her smile every morning, knowing that he was there next to her, protecting his mate and unborn child.

But despite the fact that he never truly left the little blunette alone, she still needed more. She wanted to see his face again, to hear his strange yet unique laugh. She wanted to see him and Pantherlily chase each other around. She wanted to see his ruby red eyes, staring at her with that same concern that she had seen before when she was injured. She wanted to hear his gruff, deep voice again. She wanted all of that, and Levy had hope that one day, maybe one day, Gajeel would visit her, wake her up, and give her the life she wanted now so desperately.

A sudden pain shocked the bookworm, a pain coming from her stomach area. At first, she had assumed that it was merely a kick from the unborn infant. However, as time passed, the pain became stronger and more unbearable. At this point, Levy could barely walk. Her water suddenly broke, and the young woman knew instantly at what was going on.

'Oh no! I'm going into labor!'

Feeling frightened, Levy waddled over towards her front door, unlocking it and leaving her house. She never had to leave her house before, as she always woke up to having her cabinets and refrigerator stocked with food, from who could only be Gajeel, of course. She was leaving the house for the first time in months, ever since she acquired a very visible baby bump. Ignoring the shocking stares of passing villagers, she made her way to Lucy's house as quickly as she possibly could. Once she made it there, she didn't even think to knock, as she was currently in a great deal of pain. Barging in, she saw no one in the living room or the kitchen.

"Lucy! Lucy!! I need you, now!! Please!!" the bookworm cried out, tears pouring down her face from the combination of pain and panic.

"Levy?! Why have you been locking yourself away?! Do you having something w--Oh my gosh!! Levy!!"

The tall blonde rushed over to her best friend, leading her towards the guest room in the back. Opening the door, she led the pained blunette over towards the bed, pulling the covers back and helping her lay down. Lucy was obviously confused, not knowing how something like this could even possibly happen.

"Levy?? How did this happen?!" she asked her, nearly panicking as much as her friend.

"It's a long s'story, just....p'please help me," Levy whimpered out.

Lucy nodded, inspecting Levy. "You're already too far along to be transported to the clinic safely. I'll boil some hot water and go and get the elder woman. She's also a doctor."

Levy wanted to groan, not wanting that particular woman near her child, mostly because of the fact that she wasn't sure how...dragon the infant would look. She already knew that Lucy would certainly freak out when she saw the infant.

"L'luce...I, I do--"

"Look, Levy. I know you don't like the woman, but we need her right now! Think about your baby, okay? Now, I'm going to get her, whether you like it or not!" Lucy stormed away, leaving the house.

~~~~~

She hated that the two women, one her friend and the other an annoying village member, were both staring at her, both searching for answers from within the little bookworm. She successfully delivered two-quarter dragon hybrid babies, a boy and a girl. The boy had his father's black hair and piercing red eyes, yet he had his mother's face shape and pale skin. The girl looked so much like her father, the only difference being her light blue hair color and her mother's eye shape. Other than that, she had her father's eye color, face shape, and darker skin tone.

But there was something else that they had. Both infants were covered with patches of silver dragon scales every now and then, and they also had tiny dragon wings attached to their backs. Even though they were newborns, the women instantly noticed that they already had two tiny fangs, the boy's fangs being slightly longer.

"I should have known," the old woman grumbled out.

Both Lucy and Levy gave the elder a curious look.

"Levy McGarden experienced something similar to Diana Mooncross. These are the monster's children, no doubt. Oh, you poor little dear. But no matter, I will make sure that our men kill this beast, and then we can get rid of these...beastly mutants," the elder explained.

Levy suddenly growled at the elder, her eyes flashing red. "No! Stay away from him and my children! He's not a monster, he's my soul mate! Rogue and Delea are wanted by us! Diana was loved by Metalicana, don't you see that?! They were mates, spouses, true lovers! Gajeel and I are the same! We will marry and raise our family together!"

But the elder only tsked at the new mother. "You poor thing. It seems as if the monster has brainwashed you. But no matter! Once he and the mutants are dead, you should return back to normal." And with that said, the elder woman left Lucy's house.

Levy, holding her children, nuzzled them and cried softly. "Luce...Lucy, they can't kill them. I love them, Lucy. I love them so much.

"I know. And are you sure you love the mon--, erm Gajeel? Are you totally sure, Levy?" Lucy asked.

The woman nodded, smiling through her tears. "Yes, Lucy. I love him...so very much."

"Well, then we need to stop the village from killing him! Can you stand?"

Levy laughed. "I have dragon blood now, Lucy. Of course I can."

Shocking her blonde friend, Levy successfully managed to stand up, holding both of her infants close to her. Lucy rushed into the nursery and grabbed Lily from her crib. Together, they both ran out of the house, running towards the center of the village. Already, soldiers were gathered, Natsu in the front of them all. Jellal was also there, his arm wrapped around Erza. Gray, despite not being a soldier, was standing among them, with dark blue armor on.

"This monster has gone too far! He impregnates one of our own with his evil spawn, brainwashes her into believing that she loves him, and leaves her with us, possibly hoping that we will kill her. But we will save our librarian and kill this fool! We will torture this beast and let him die a slow, painful death!" Jellal yelled towards everyone.

Everyone in the crowd cheered, except for Natsu. He had an uneasy and even guilty look on his face. Lucy, who was standing on the sidelines with Levy, seemed to wonder what was wrong with him. Levy was raging, her sharp canines grinding together. Her eyes were narrowed towards the old woman who stood beside Jellal and Erza. It was her fault after all.

"Yeah! Let's charge into his home, beat him senseless for messing with Levy!" Gray yelled out.

The crowd cheered again, preparing to leave the village and travel to the mountains. Tears fell from Levy's eyes, knowing that she wouldn't make it there after so recently giving birth. Her infants whimpered in her hold, scared of the loud noises. She kissed them on their foreheads, comforting them. Lucy watched her friend and saw how tenderly the new mother cared for her babies. It was then that the blonde knew for certain that Levy truly did love them.

"You ain't gotta go off and try an' find me. I'm right here," a gruff voice called out once the crowd fell silent.

Turning around, the crowd, Levy, and Lucy, spotted Gajeel walking towards them. His eyes were not focused on the crowd, but Levy and his children. "If you wanna kill me, go ahead. I ain't gonna stop ya. I deserve it anyway."

Jellal sneered towards the dragon hybrid, aiming a pistol at him. "You're a sick animal, you know that? Do you take pleasure in getting innocent teenagers pregnant like that?! I would have preferred to torture you, but shooting you in the head would be fine with me too."

The blue-headed man steadied his pistol, ready to shoot. Before he got the chance too, the little bookworm suddenly shot out, running towards Gajeel as fast as she could. She held her children securely against her chest, making sure that they wouldn't fall. Reaching the hybrid, she sobbed into his shirt, nuzzling her face into his chest.

"You idiot! You stupid idiot!" she kept saying, sobbing louder and louder.

"Levy..." Gajeel wrapped his arms around his mate, bringing her closer to him. He nuzzled the top of her head, kissing her there. They remained in this position, the infants gripping onto their father's shirt.

"Levy! Get away from that monster!" Gray suddenly shouted out.

Natsu shook his head. "No, leave them be."

"What?! Why should we?!" both Jellal and Gray asked.

The pink headed man walked up further to the front, gathering everyone's attention. "You guys are all wrong! Levy isn't crazy! Gajeel and Levy are indeed mates! It's a custom among dragons. Their dragon picks a soul mate from birth, and once the human part of the dragon reaches maturity, they find their mates. It's usually love at first sight. He's not a monster! At one point in history, it was common for dragons to take human form and have human mates. I should know."

Lucy was watching Natsu with widened eyes, shocked at the fact that he wasn't set out to kill the dragon hybrid like everyone.

"And how would you know? You're a human, like us!" Gray shouted.

But Natsu shook his head. "I'm not, Gray. Just like Gajeel, I'm also half dragon. My father, Igneel, had a human mate. And I have a human mate as well...Lucy. She knows what I truly am, but I told her to never say or do anything that would reveal this secret. I wanted to have a normal, human life, but now I know that that was a stupid idea. I'm half dragon, and I should embrace that side."

The crowd was shocked, everyone gaping at Natsu. Levy turned around, meeting eyes with her best friend.

"Lucy, is that true?" she asked.

The blonde smiled. "Yes, it is. Why else did you think I would be so willing to help you? I know what it feels like to be the mate of a dragon, I really do." Levy giggled and smiled towards her friend.

Jellal suddenly glared at Natsu. "So now you're a threat to us as well??"

"Why would you think that? You've known me for years, trained me to be the commander in fact. You even told me that you trusted me with your life. Why would you suddenly take everything back because of my species?" Natsu raised a brow at the village leader.

Taken aback by the commander's words, Jellal sighed. "You have a point Natsu. And what about this...Gajeel guy? Do you know him?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't, but that doesn't matter. I'm sure all the guy wants is to be able to live with his mate and kids in peace. How would you feel if you were afraid to be with Erza because of the fact that her village would most likely kill you? How would you feel if you had to be something that you're not just to fit in? How would you feel if you had to make the love of your life keep your true identity away from everyone? The life of a dragon hybrid isn't easy. We just want a place to call home. We want the freedom to be who we are without the risk of us or our families getting killed. We could have that place here if you don't mind. Think about it, Jellal. There would be no way a rival could wipe out this village, not with two dragon hybrids on your side."

The leader thought about it, his scowl erasing from his face. After a few moments of thinking over what Natsu told him, a small smile appeared on his face. "I believe you, Commander Natsu."

"I declare that Natsu and Gajeel are now allowed to be apart of this village, not as humans, but as their true species, as dragon hybrids! We will allow them the freedom to be who they want to be. And I must ask, are there anymore amongst us with dragon blood?

A small girl with dark blue hair and brown eyes walked over from where the children were standing, shaking slightly. "Uh...I am, sir."

Nodding, Jellal smiled at the girl. "Wendy, isn't it? Do not be afraid anymore. We apologize for our arrogant behavior, believing gossip from the elder woman."

"Hey!" the old woman shouted.

Everyone merely shook their heads towards the woman.

Smiling, Levy turned back around, staring up at Gajeel. "You can stay with me, Gajeel. I have a house big enough for our family."

He stared down at her, a frown on his face. "Levy...I'I can't. I can't be with ya after what I did to ya."

"But that wasn't you! It was your stupid, inpatient, and dumb dragon. I love you both, but geez. I know he's much more animal than human. I saw how he took care of Jet and Droy. I'm not mad at you, I promise. I just want you back. Our babies need a father, and I need the one that I love," she told him, tears falling down her face.

Leaning down, Gajeel stared at Levy, his own eyes watering. "I don't wanna hurt ya ever again, Shrimp."

"You won't." She leaned up more and kissed him gently, pouring out her love into the kiss.

Gajeel smiled through the kiss and brought her closer, the babies keeping a small space between them. Pulling apart, the hybrid ruffled his children's hair, smiling down at both his mate and children.

"You didn't name them anything sissy, right?"

"Of course not, Gajeel."


	14. Epilogue

"Levy! Get this brat off of me!" Gajeel yelled out as his son climbed up on his shoulder, yanking at his hair.

His mate, now his wife, walked in the living room, carrying a sleeping toddler on her hip. Delea's blue hair was tied into a small ponytail, wearing a small black dress. Gajeel didn't want any of his kids to wear "sissy" colors, so the children's clothes were all dark themed colors. The bookworm didn't mind at all, as long as her daughter was able to wear dresses. That was something that she would never allow the love of her life to get his way with.

Three years had passed since the village welcomed dragon slayers openly into their village, and Levy and Gajeel's children had grown much since then. They realized quickly that Delea was stubborn and easily angered like her father, while Rogue was more on the shy and quiet side like his mother. Levy assumed that he would also develop her love for books, while Delea would develop a love for fighting like Gajeel.

When Levy saw Gajeel's current situation, she laughed madly at him, waking their daughter up. "That's too cute! I need to take a picture of this!"

"Tch. We Redfox men are not cute, we're sexy," Gajeel protested, a smirk plastered on his face.

Blushing, Levy walked up towards the tall man and grabbed her son, Rogue, holding him with her free arm. Gajeel chuckled with his unique laugh and pecked his mate on her lips, causing her to blush even more. He loved how no matter what, she never lost that innocence of hers. It was a component of hers that he adored, though he would never say it aloud.

"I was thinking of taking Rogue and Delea to the park today! Lucy and Juvia are bringing their kids too. Do you want to come?" Levy asked her husband, glancing up at him with her large, hazel eyes.

He couldn't resist the, dare he say it, cuteness that her eyes possessed. She knew it too and had used it to her advantage ever since she found out his weakness.

"Fine, I'll go to tha park with ya and yer sissy friends," he grumbled out.

Giggling, Levy grabbed a bag that was filled with the essentials that her kids would need and ran out the door, Gajeel stomping behind them.

~~~~~

"So you were forced to come here too, or are you just whipped?" Natsu teased the other dragon hybrid.

"You know he's super whipped for Levy," Gray teased Gajeel as well.

The dragon slayer only growled, but then, he smirked at the other two men. "Then why are you idiots here? You two wanna be mommies and swing the brats around?"

Both men looked away and grumbled, causing Gajeel to laugh his unique laugh.

"Yea, well...you act like you don't love your kids!" Gray pointed out.

The dragon slayer merely tsked. "I do love my kids. I ain't gonna lie about that. That's takin' things too far."

The other men nodded in agreement, apologizing under their breath.

Then, a herd of screaming kids and toddlers ran towards the trio, causing them to yelp and run away. They ran around the park, their fear greatly amusing the wives sitting down on one of the park benches.

"Juvia, are you through with having kids? You have fourteen for crying out loud!" Lucy said.

Juvia blushed and laughed, patting her stomach. "Actually, it's fifteen now."

Both Levy and Lucy gaped at the pale woman in shock. "Seriously?!"

"Juvia told Gray that she wants thirty-four, and he hasn't complained yet," she mentioned.

Shaking her head, Levy glanced over towards Gajeel, giggling when she saw that Rogue and Delea had managed to wrap themselves around his legs. He was still trying to run from the herd of Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Juvia look-alikes. Shaking her head at them, she turned her attention back towards the girls, chatting along with them.

She couldn't help but smile as they talked. Her life was simply perfect now, as she had a lover and two beautiful children. Actually, she was suspicious that she had another one on the way, but she wasn't for sure quite yet. Lucy had another child, a son whom she named Haru. Levy loved the fact that he looked just like a blonde-headed Natsu. Their children were simply too precious.

"So, when are you going to tell Gray that you're pregnant again?" Lucy asked, bringing Levy out of her thoughts. The trio of mothers had failed to realize that the guys and children were right behind them.

"You're pregnant?!"

The girls turned around to see Gray passed out on the ground, his many children surrounding him. Juvia hopped up out of her seat and rushed over towards her husband, panicking.

Gajeel and Natsu simply shook their heads.

"Tch, rabbit. I ain't having any more kids, cas I know better," Gajeel snickered out, Natsu laughing in agreement.

Levy smirked and giggled. "Well, I'm glad I didn't tell you that I might be pregnant!"

"Whaaa?!" Gajeel also passed out, his twins tackling him and laughing at his face.

Jumping out of her seat, Levy sighed as she made her way towards her mate.

The pink-headed dragon hybrid laughed at the two guys. "That's what they get! At least we're not expecting any more kids, right Luce?"

The blonde's eyes widened, chuckling lightly. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"Um..r'right!"

"Luce, you're not pregnant...are you?"

"..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all who read my old fic! I remember this story being one of the most entertaining writing experiences... ever. Seriously, I made Gajeel a cheesy werewolf kind-of-bro, but with dragons! Yeah!


End file.
